Red and Blue go the lights this Diwali

The lights of Diwali were glowing red and blue when the Counties Manukau Police decided to celebrate Diwali yet again.

This year, the celebration was bigger and better than the previous years. The police celebrations have been growing in popularity amongst the staff themselves and other external agencies that work closely with the police. Every year, requests for more and more staff to be able to attend the festival have been increasing. In response to this, this year the celebration was moved outside to the car park in order to accommodate the numbers.

Staff from various government agencies such as the Department of Corrections, the Ministry of Justice and the City Council were invited to the event. In addition, representation from various community agencies was also there.

There were speeches and cultural performances. Cultural performances by young students received loud applause from the audience. The star performance, as at the Auckland Diwali Festival, was that of a bhangra performance by the Police Cultural Group. The dancing police officers in their uniforms were a huge hit with the audience.

Acting sergeant Mandeep Kaur, Counties Manukau Police Ethnic Co-ordinator, had spearheaded the arrangements. The participation from the larger force was apparent from the numbers of Officers wearing pagdis and female staff members wearing saris or getting henna tattoos to mark their participation at the event. The event marked a significant step towards embracing diversity, which seems to be one of the values that the police force uphold.