Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2013 | Page 21

INTERVIEW

Julie makes happy
return - as a boss
By Peter White

When Julie Fry left the Island after
spending the first three years of her
career in the Police Force here, she
made a promise to herself that one day
she would return in a senior position.
Now some 20 years later that
pledge has been fulfilled, with Julie
having recently taken up the role of
Chief Inspector of IW Police, based
in Newport. She came back to the
Island in April after a variety of posts
on the mainland, during which time
she climbed the promotion ladder to
Sergeant, Inspector and then Chief
Inspector.
“I was happy and excited about
coming back, because the one thing
about the Island is that you can make
a difference,” she said. “I love my
job and I love the opportunity to
positively affect the community. This
is a new challenge that I am enjoying,
and I am really pleased to be back. I
have still got so much to learn here,
and this is a great opportunity for me.
“I really want to get a grip of
this and do a good job. I like high
standards, ethics and integrity. I don’t
like lying, cheating and criminality,
or my staff to embarrass me. I like us
to do a good job as best we can, and
where we don’t get it right, if we know
about it, I want to recover it as quick
as possible.
“I want there to be fewer victims of
crime here and I want the community
to trust and have confidence that we
will take them seriously and deal with
incidents as best we can.”
Julie was awarded an MBE in the
Queen’s New Year’s honours for her

community work, and says: “It is
amazing that people have felt the
work I’ve done has been worthy of
it, and it was a very proud moment
for me receiving it from the Queen.
I was only one of two women there
in uniform, so I didn’t have to go out
shoes and hat buying!”
Julie was born in Southampton, and
went to school there before attending
Itchen College. As young lady
who excelled in a variety of sports,

Julie in 2004/5 as a Sgt Diverse
Communities officer for LGB&T HQ

particularly athletics and hockey, the
idea of becoming a PE teacher was
uppermost in her mind.
“I didn’t attend university because I
was not a natural academic and I just
wanted to get out there and work,”
she reflected. “Eventually I wasn’t sure

whether I wanted to be a police officer
or a PE teacher, although I did fancy
the idea of being paid to do sport. I
was a good all-rounder at sport.
“My dad was a good cricketer, and
was always encouraging me to turn my
hand to all sports. So long before girls
played football at schools and colleges
as they do now, I was able to F