Sean Hollands


1956 Kent Cadet	1981 Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Inspector	1983 Kent Constable


1986 Port of London Authority Sgt.	1994 Port of Tilbury Sgt.	1994 Port of Tilbury Inspector

Rosemary's progress in the Police Service

1963 WPC Kent modelling Gannex raincoat	1966 WPC Kent Traffic	Inspector Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary
		1980 old uniform	1981 new uniform

In September 1956 I joined the Kent County Constabulary Cadets, became a regular in September 1958, and in February 1961 was their youngest & shortest in service Traffic patrol since WW2, having just 29 months service. Initially only trained as a motorcyclist, not being taught to drive cars for another year!

In 1963 I met Rosemary, who had joined Kent in 1962 and in 1964 became only their 3rd WPC to join Traffic. We married in 1965 and she left the force in 1967

After 13 years on Traffic I returned to the beat as Sergeant and a year later went back to Traffic, followed by a spell in Maidstone Crown Court

In early 1980 we moved, with our two young daughters, to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, having both obtained positions of Inspector with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. I spent my time there in Traffic whilst Rosemary worked in CID, Juvenile Squad, General Operational Duties and finally re-organising their fledgling Women Police Department - with great success.

My collecting started during 1980 and in 1981 during a break back in the UK I met one of the founder members of PICA GB (an organisation I had never heard of!) who signed me up on the spot. At that time their only member in the southern hemisphere, I soon became inundated with requests for RPNGC insignia, which I struggled to fulfil.

Imagine if you can: telephone calls from Papua New Guinea had to be booked hours or days in advance, letters took a week to reach Europe, computers & the internet had not been invented, word processors were only available to businesses. All correspondence had to be either hand written or typed, often between power cuts, water failure and earth tremors. It could take a month or more to finalise a deal!

The only Police Insignia Collectors' organisations in the whole world were in the USA and UK. The former folded in 1988 but PICA GB prospered and set the standard for all the many similar organisations now existing around the world

Returning to England in early 1983 I rejoined my old force as a Constable, transferring as Sergeant in December 1984 to the Port of London Authority Police at Tilbury Docks, Essex. This force was renamed Port of Tilbury London Police in 1992 and I retired as Inspector in 1995 after nearly 39 years continuous Police service

I am a member of these organisations

Police Collectors News (PC News) which since 1988 incorporates the defunct Police Insignia Collectors Association of America

Triple One Club of New Zealand (111): now only open to New Zealand & Australian residents

Helmet plates, sweater & sleeve patches of British, Colonial and Commonwealth Police

All insignia of Kent County Constabulary & the Port of London Authority Police, together with their constituent forces

Some insignia of UK Seaport & Railway Police and of Australia and Papua New Guinea Police