Lidia makes her dream come true

And after moving to Jersey in 2001 for what was supposed to be a short break from college she has finally made that dream a reality. After months of tough training – which she described as being ‘like X Factor’ – Lidia will soon be walking the beat as Jersey’s first Polish police officer, serving the community that has become her new home. ‘My father was a police officer so I always wanted to be one,’ she said. ‘He was my role model and I always wanted to be like him. That never changed, I always wanted to get a job that helped people.’ Hailing from Ciechanow, around 60km outside of Warsaw, Lidia moved to the Island with a friend to work as a chamber maid, with every intention of returning to Poland after three months to continue her studies. But after falling in love with Jersey, and rising through the ranks at Hotel La Place to become a front-of-house manager, she decided that Jersey was the perfect place to pursue her career in the police.