There's a new face on the beat in Gunnedah.
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Regan Welsh is learning the ropes at Gunnedah Police Station after being inducted at the Tamworth Police Station on Thursday.
The probationary officer is fresh out of Goulburn Police Academy and moved to Gunnedah last week from Campbelltown. He has filled one of the two vacancies at the Gunnedah station.
It has only been a year since Mr Welsh applied to join the NSW Police Force, which is a world apart from the Volkswagon dealership where he plied his trade as a mechanic.
It was the birth of his daughter in May last year that changed everything.
“After my daughter was born, I got motivated to do something bigger and better,” Mr Welsh said.
“I wanted to help other people and [the police force] was my idea of bigger and better.”
Mr Welsh is settling into country life and said it’s “a different pace to where I’m from”.
After my daughter was born, I got motivated to do something bigger and better.
- Regan Welsh
Leading Senior Constable Damian Wood has taken the graduate under his wing and said he will spend the first six weeks observing and learning how to put his training into practice.
After a year of training and theory, Mr Welsh said it was “daunting” to hit the beat.
“There are real world consequences to what I’ll be doing as opposed to the scenarios at the academy,” he said.
“You’re actually dealing with real people.”
In three months time, Mr Welsh will be undertaking the full duties of a police officer and in a year’s time he will earn his stripes.
