He Policed New Zealand Without a Gun for 30 Years | Craig Tickelpenny | Reasons We Serve Ep. 185

At 23, Craig Tickelpenny worked his first night shift completely alone, with no gun, no body armor, and no one to call for backup. That was how policing worked in New Zealand.

In Episode 185 of Reasons We Serve, retired New Zealand Police Senior Sergeant Craig Tickelpenny takes us inside a country with a single national police force: no FBI, no DEA, no CIA, just one agency that handles it all. Craig joined in 1992, when officers had to sign firearms out of a station safe before responding. He explains how a cop handles a knife attack with nothing but a baton and the ability to talk someone down.

His path into the job started in a gang bar, with an offhand comment that he'd be "the last person in the world" to become a cop. He signed up the next day. From there, Craig tells us about:

• Teaching himself the job alone for six months in his own hometown

• Two years tending bar in London, which he credits for his de-escalation skills

• A man who tried to stab him and came back the next day to apologize

• The meth trade, rising gang violence, and Australia's deportations reshaping crime in New Zealand

      • Climbing to Senior Sergeant and spending six years training future leaders at the Royal New                 Zealand Police College

Today Craig runs the Welfare Fund for the New Zealand Police Association. He came to The Wounded Blue Summit in the U.S. looking for something his country still lacks: real support for officers living with PTSD after they leave the job. His honest take on hypervigilance, what policing does to how you see people, and why he steered his own son away from the badge will stay with you.

If you've ever wondered how policing works without guns, or what officers carry home long after retirement, this conversation is for you.

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Reasons We Serve is hosted by Niles Gooding, a retired DEA Special Agent with 25 years of service. Every episode features the real people behind the badge and the uniform: why they served, what it cost them, and what they learned.