Celebrating Success Together

For services to the New Zealand Police and communities, Sergeant Walter Wallace (Wally) Kopae was last week awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM).

Sgt Wally as he is commonly known, is a senior K9 specialist trainer with the NZ Police, currently based at the Fiji Police K9 Unit delivering training under the Fiji Police Partnership Programme (FPPP) in the Development of General Patrol capability supported and funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

To mark the achievement the FPF K9 Family hosted Sgt Wally and their NZ comrades to a celebratory lunch.

“Clearly a number of people have got together to make this nomination, and I accept it on behalf of the Dog Section, Police and my family,” said Sgt Wally.

FPF Assistant Commissioner of Police Operations (ACP) Livai Driu congratulated Sgt Wally and said, "I also want to acknowledge the partnership between FPF and the New Zealand Police where we have seen so much collaboration between our two organizations," said ACP Driu.

He adds that the partnership has seen NZ Police Officers like Sgt Wally becoming more like family, rather than a work colleague.

Sgt Wally has trained dogs and handlers in specialist areas such as Search and Rescue and outside of Police, in noxious weed detection.

He has been deployed for international operations, including assisting the Solomon Islands Police Service from 2002 to 2003 and mentoring Afghan police trainers in Bamyan Province in 2005.

He is currently developing police patrol dog capability while deployed in Fiji.