While most 11-year-olds spend the lead-up to Christmas thinking about presents, Dakota Bradley is busy preparing a hamper for police officers who have to work on December 25.
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The Raworth girl has known since she was six that she wants to be a police officer.
She is so sure, she has decked out her room with police patches, toys, photos, letters and more.
Her bedroom walls are adorned with memorabilia that Dakota and her mum Stacey have been sent from all over Australia and the world – including the United States, Argentina, Canada and the Netherlands.
Dakota believes she has met more than 1000 police officers and Stacey said it’s hard to go on holidays without visiting a police station.
“There’s not many places we go and don’t end up in a cop shop,” Stacey said. “We went down to the Easter Show and ended up at Parramatta [Police Station].”
Dakota’s interest in police work actually stemmed from a family holiday to Canberra six years ago.
She was studying transportation at school and noticed one of the police cars in the Australian capital looked different than the ones in NSW.
So her mum sent a Facebook message to the Federal Police and from there her passion just grew.
“Something just clicked and I kind of fell in love with police,” Dakota said. “They put their lives at risk to save people and stop silly people on the road.”
Since then she has had some amazing experiences with both local and high-ranking police.
Dakota went down to Sydney in 2015 for the 100 Years of Women in Policing ceremony where she met Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn and then-Governor Marie Bashir.
“It was cool, not many people get to meet [the Police Commissioner],” Dakota said. “A lot of police officers haven’t even met him.”
Dakota told Mr Scipione about her story, and he asked for her details to send her a gift.
She later received two police bears and a personal note from the commissioner.
As part of the Women in Policing baton relay, Dakota also got the chance to drive a police boat at Spears Point and hold the baton.
Fairfax Media was first introduced to Dakota several years ago when she got to ride in a police Porsche after winning an art competition.
She’s had a private tour of Belconnen Police station in the ACT and even visited a police station in Fiji.
So it’s no surprise that Dakota wants to be a police officer. But she has dreams that stem beyond a career in Maitland.
The 11-year-old wants to reach the Australian Federal Police before joining the International Deployment Group.
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
