From the Aramoana massacre to the Bain murders, the veteran police officer (66) has been part of the city’s highest profile investigations for decades.
Today, after nearly 49 years, he will clock out for the final time.
‘‘You can’t work forever,’’he pointed out with a laugh.
Det Lodge joined the police as a cadet at age 17 in 1971, and was posted to Wellington for about four years after graduating.
‘‘I’d seen cops on the beat that didn’t look much older than me, and I thought ‘That could be me’.’’
He then did a stint in the Armed Offenders Squad in Timaru between 1976 and 1982, when bikie gangs such as the Devil’s Henchmen and Road Knights were in their heyday.
From there it was back to his hometown of Dunedin, where he has remained as part of the Criminal Investigation Branch ever since.
A large part of his work has been in the child abuse area, but despite the tough subject matter, he was pragmatic.
‘‘Yucky things are yucky things, and if you’re not used to it, it’s particularly gruelling, but you become accustomed to whatever you’re doing.
‘‘I’m sure that’s the same in any area of life. It’s your every day stock-in-trade.’’
He also noted, the vast majority of police work was dealing with negative things.
‘‘There are always bright spots of course, there are positives, but they emanate from what is a negative situation to begin with.’’
One of the cases that still stood out for him was a murder/suicide in Mosgiel in 1984.
‘‘The dad shot his wife, stabbed the kids, put them all in [a] double bed, set fire to place and shot himself. That was a dreadful mess.’’
He was also involved in the Aramoana massacre in 1990, and was part of the investigation into the Bain family murders in 1994.
‘‘Every homicide leaves its mark.’’
Despite that, he said he loved the job.
‘‘I like it, it’s great company.’’
But after 48 years and 11 months, Det Lodge had to admit it was time to retire.
‘‘I’ll miss this place and I’ll miss the people, but I won’t miss the work itself.
‘‘Police work hasn’t changed since Adam was a baby. You’re just dealing with human misbehaviour and that remains the same.’’
