JENNIE Koster, President of Raymond Terrace VIEW, captivated members of the Myall River VIEW Club with tales of the Police Force at the group’s last meeting for 2023 at the Hawks Nest Golf Club on Friday, 8 December.

A former policewoman, stationed variously at Newtown, Kings Cross/Darlinghurst, and later Newcastle, Ms Koster regaled the room with several colourful anecdotes about being one among very few women on the Force in the 1980s and 1990s.

“I always wanted to be a policewoman, and only ever wanted to be a street cop,” Ms Koster said.

“When I went through the academy, there were only eight women in the class, and we had to share lockers.”

Treading a strong undercurrent of misogyny, Jennie witnessed many confronting things firsthand, such as being mistaken for part of the act during a vice call-out, and 4WD training upon Stockton Dunes as she prepared for siting police radio transmitters amidst remote and rugged terrain.

Ms Koster retired in 1990, just after the Newcastle earthquake, and also directing traffic through floodwaters at Sandgate in the regulation uniform skirt.

By Thomas O’KEEFE