MOSSEL BAY NEWS - She started her career as a student constable at the Mossel Bay Police Station 34 years ago and now Lieutenant Colonel Ashley Michaels has made history, becoming the first woman to take up the position as the station commander.
It was a full circle moment for Michaels, who was born and bred in Mossel Bay, when she received the news earlier this year that she would become the commander.
Michaels was promoted to lieutenant colonel when she became the Plettenberg Bay Police Station Detective Unit commander on 1 December 2022. She was acting station commander there from June to November 2024.
She learned a lot from her time there, but was ecstatic to come back home, to the station where she began her career.
A calling
While Michaels knows that being a police officer and serving and helping the community is her calling, she didn't realise this until she was in her first year studying personnel management, right after she had matriculated.
It was during her first year of studies that a friend called her and said the police were looking for new officers and that they should both apply.
They both applied and were accepted. Michaels started as a student constable at the Mossel Bay Police Station for two months before heading to police college in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town, in 1990.
After she finished her training, Michaels was officially stationed at Da Gamaskop Police Station and spent the first two years in the Visible Policing Unit.
From there, she spent a few years working in the Cape Town state morgue before being transferred to Kimberley's state morgue. After a few months, however, she asked for a transfer to the detective unit in Kimberly, which was granted.
She has 25 years' experience in detective work, working in various units including Organised Crime and Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences.
In 2017 she became the head of the detectives at KwaNonqaba Police Station and was there until her promotion to Plet-tenberg Bay in 2022.
Historical
"I have loved every moment of police work. It is challenging and rewarding," she said.
Speaking about her new position as station commander, Michaels said it was exciting and a "historical moment".
"I didn't quite realise that I was the first woman to become the station commander here, but someone mentioned it just after I found out I had been accepted for the position and I just thought, 'wow'.
"It is a proud moment for me, and I think for other women too. I want other women to know this is something they can certainly achieve. I may be the first woman to be commander at Mossel Bay Police Station but I know I will not be the last," she said.
When asked what her plans for the station were, she said she was still getting to know all the staff, as well as the community.
She said there would be a community meeting on 27 May and she wanted to have meetings with other stakeholders, such as local security companies.
Once she had had these meetings, she would have a clearer idea of what the community wanted and needed from the police. Community engagement and solid relationships with local law enforcement and security would be extremely important for the station.
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