Police Commissioner Howard Broad has announced the appointment of new district commanders for Canterbury and Central.
The new District Commander for Canterbury will be Superintendent Dave Cliff. Superintendent Cliff is the current National Manager for Road Policing at Police National Headquarters.
The new District Commander for Central will be Superintendent Russell Gibson. Superintendent Gibson is currently Acting National Manager Training and Professional Development at the Royal New Zealand Police College.
Mr Broad said both Superintendents would bring considerable skills and experience to their new positions in two of the largest police districts in the country.
Prior to his appointment as National Manager Road Policing two years ago Superintendent Cliff was Policing Development Manager and Road Policing Manager respectively for Southern District based in Dunedin. He began his 24 year policing career in Auckland before going to Greymouth as a detective. He was a sergeant in Porirua and Picton before moving for a short time to the Waikato. From 1997 to 2000 he was a Senior Sergeant in Christchurch.
Superintendent Gibson has been in police for 33 years and prior to his recent acting role at the Police College he was HR Manager for the Central District based in Palmerston North. During this time he had to manage issues arising from the tragic deaths of Constable Glen McKibbon (Hastings), Detective Constable Duncan Taylor (Feilding) and Constable Philip Wipatene (New Plymouth). In 2005 he won the New Zealand EEO Trust Work and Life "Walk the Talk" Award. In 1991 he was promoted to Inspector in Internal Affairs (now Professional Standards) at Police National Headquarters in Wellington. His early policing career was spent in the Auckland area where he was a member of CIB.
ENDS