"A guy said he'd come home from the pub and found his wife deceased on the floor," recalls Jacqueline Kennedy when asked what one of the most memorable phone calls of her career has been.
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"It turned out he'd murdered her.
"I had to go to the District Court and tell the judge what he said."
Responding to often complex calls like this, and connecting distressed callers with NSW police officers, is what Walgett-born Ms Kennedy has been doing for almost four decades.
"When I left school I got a job with the old PMG, which stands for the Postmaster's General Department [the federal government department that later became Telstra and Australia Post]," she explained.
"From there a relative rang me and said the post office was closing, but there was a telephonist job going with the police.
"She said 'you'll have to come to Sydney though' and at that stage I'd never been past Lightning Ridge."
That was a little more than 37 years ago and since then the force has been blessed with, and challenged by, massive technological change.
In the 1980's when Ms Kennedy joined the NSW police ranks, radio and shorthand were vital parts of her role.
It is also no surprise that before the dawn of iPhones, the internet and Facebook, social attitudes and workplace practices within the NSW police force were much different to what they are now.
"Back when I first started, female officers weren't allowed to wear boots or trousers.
"They had to wear culottes and their own special hats.
"There were not as many [female officers] as there are today."
When she started her career, Ms Kennedy was also one of a small number of Aboriginal woman to work for NSW police.
"I was actually trained by an Aboriginal woman, Doreen Peters [who was the first Aboriginal woman employed by NSW police in 1973]
"She ran an Aboriginal programs unit and I was part of the first Koori Network."
Ms Kennedy said one of the hardest parts of her job is watching a disproportionately large number of Aboriginal people enter the criminal justice system.
"It's not just the Aboriginals though, I've seen kids come from the best homes and they've fallen into the wrong crowds."
After a stint in Sydney, Ms Kennedy chose to move to Dubbo in 1986.
She remains working at Dubbo Police Station as a general administration support officer.
Her distinguished service was recognised when she was presented with a certificate and medal for 35 years of service at a police awards event in Dubbo last Thursday.