A Maori woman working with the Queensland police service says recruitment campaigns to encourage more Maori and Polynesian people into the force are paying off.
The Tutahi Tonu Consultative Committee is a Maori liaison group working in partnership with the Logan police station near Brisbane to organise various projects, including recruitment seminars.
Senior Constable Brenda Cookson of Ngati Kuri descent, who's part of the committee, says she gets inundated with calls from Maori and Pacific people keen to become police officers.
She says two years ago she was constantly getting calls on her mobile because she also works as a recruitment officer, and was dealing with prospective trainees one on one.
Ms Cookson says she then decided to run recruiting seminars aimed at Maori - the first two attracting 80 people.
She says there were very few police officers who identified themselves as Maori 10 years ago, but she's lost count of how many Maori and Polynesian people are now in the Queensland police service.
