The Southern district police commander’s role has been filled by Superintendent Jason Guthrie, who has been with the New Zealand police for 25 years.
His time in the police has included frontline and administrative roles in the Southern district and further north.
Police service runs in the family, his son having joined the force in Dunedin in 2022. His daughter is also in the police force.
Supt Guthrie followed in the footsteps of his uncle, Sergeant Stewart Guthrie, who was sole charge at the Port Chalmers Police Station when he was killed by gunman David Gray at Aramoana on November 13, 1990.
Supt Guthrie said when he took the role as the Dunedin-Clutha-Waitaki police commander in 2014, his late uncle influenced his decision to join the force.
At the time he said he was "very proud of [his uncle’s] commitment to serve his local community and in particular his response to the tragic events at Aramoana".
In the entrance to the Dunedin Central Police Station there is a plaque dedicated to his uncle and the sacrifice he made.
Supt Guthrie joined the armed offenders squad in 1998 and in 2011 was posted to Afghanistan for seven months, as part of a New Zealand Police contingent in Bamiyan province.
In 2014, he said he also helped establish the Southern district command centre, aimed at crime prevention.
Over his career, he had seen and responded to many significant events, including the 2016 Castle St balcony collapse that injured 18 people.
Supt Guthrie also responded to the 2014 shooting of Bradley, 9, and Ellen, 6, Livingstone, who were shot by their father in Dunedin, and the 2009 Undie 500 riots, where revellers pelted police with bottles and other objects.
He replaces Superintendent Paul Basham, who in March took on the role of assistant commissioner investigations in Wellington after seven years as Southern district commander.
Supt Guthrie filled the role in an interim capacity before the permanent appointment.
