Home

Cadet realises dream

Daryna ZadvirnaGreat Southern Herald
Katanning Police cadet Aaliyah Harris.
Camera IconKatanning Police cadet Aaliyah Harris. Credit: Daryna Zadvirna

Aaliyah Harris has wanted to be a police officer since she was a little girl — and now she is living her dream.

The 18-year-old has recently become a cadet at the Katanning Police Station.

“I put in an application to do a cadetship at school,” she said.

“I thought, ‘If I don’t get it, I’ll try to make it happen another way’, but thankfully I got it and here I am.”

Though she was born and raised in Katanning, Ms Harris moved around a lot as a child and said it was good to be back in her home town after completing her cadetship course in Perth.

She said her motivation for joining the WA Police Force was helping people and making a difference.

“I think it’s because the background of my family isn’t that great and I just wanted to prove to people that just because of my background, that doesn’t mean I can’t be a great person — that I can’t do great things,” she said.

“It would be a great feeling knowing that people looked up to me — for example, the younger kids.

“I could talk to them, encourage them and help them be better, I guess. I would love to do that.” Ms Harris said everyone had been very supportive during her cadetship.

“I’ve only gone out once or twice in the police car but I’ve mostly been here doing incident reports and taking phone calls, just to get an idea of what some police work is like,” she said.

“But my boss said once I’m comfortable here in the office, I can do some night shifts and more widespread jobs.”

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails