IN 23 years with the NSW Police Force, Detective Sergeant Kristi Faber has seen it all.
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From homicide to paedophilia to armed robberies, she has dealt with almost every type of crime.
As a Lake Macquarie Local Area Command detective, Detective Faber oversees major investigations.
She has led Strike Force Georgiana, an investigation into child sex abuse throughout the Hunter, for the past eight years.
Detective Faber earned her title in 2005.
She joined the police force in 1992 and worked at Campsie, Bankstown and Maitland police stations before settling in at Charlestown, where she has been based for the past 16 years.
For her work Detective Faber was named NSW Investigator of the Year and Australasian Women in Policing Investigator of the Year in 2008.
Detective Faber's successful career as a female police officer is one of thousands across the state to be celebrated this year as the NSW Police Force marks 100 years of women in policing.
The first two female officers were Lillian Armfield and Maude Rhodes, who were employed in 1915 as "special constables".
Today, there are more than 4500 female police officers across the state.
Detective Faber said the police force had changed drastically since she joined.
"When I first started at Campsie there were only three female police officers out of about 50," she said.
"We're not police women, we're police officers.
"And that's exactly how our [male] colleagues see us."
Today, Wednesday, June 24, Detective Faber will join her fellow Lake Macquarie Local Area Command police officers to participate in a statewide baton relay to mark the milestone.
The baton started at the Sydney Opera House on International Women's Day on March 8.
It arrived in Newcastle on Sunday in spectacular fashion as Newcastle officer Jennifer Lawton carried the baton from a helicopter that landed at Hunter Stadium.
After the Lake Macquarie relay, the baton will be passed on to Tuggerah Lakes Local Area Command.
It is a free event with displays by Police Rescue, Mounted Police, Police Transport Command and Highway Patrol.
■ Celebrating 100 years of women in policing baton relay, June 24, 10am to 1pm at Speers Point Park.
