Police officers of the Waitaki are celebrating 75 years of women in the police force.
The activities are part of national celebrations.
Two police staff baton relays began simultaneously on June 24, one leaving Bluff and the other Cape Reinga.
Yesterday, officers took one of the police batons around Waitaki using different forms of transport that expressed their interests outside the force, including on horseback, in cars and in a kayak.
It was part of three days of activities to mark the milestone.
Oamaru resident Janice McLean said it was good to see localised celebrations of the national event.
Ms McLean has a niece in the Dunedin police force.
She said there had to be a celebration, given how far women had come in New Zealand society, from being seen as just extensions of their husbands to people in their own right.
"If you want to go be a policewoman, do it.
"You've got as much to contribute as any man.''
Senior Sergeant Jason McCoy, of Oamaru, thanked all his female staff for their services to the district in a ceremony yesterday and said police as an organisation was a much better place for having women in it.
Southern district police commander Superintendent Mike Pannett said police hoped 50% of all new recruits by 2019 would be female.
He said the first intake of women into the police force was in 1941, but they were not given uniforms until 1952.
The website New Zealand History states police arrived in Oamaru in 1861.
Both batons were expected to travel to Wellington by August 1, where there would be a national parade of retired and current staff.
