Southern District police today announced the appointment of Inspector Barry Taylor to the position of Area Commander Southland, and Central Otago Sub-Area Commander, Senior Sergeant Mike Cook, to the position of Area Commander Otago Rural.
In announcing the appointments, Acting District Commander, Inspector Dave Campbell, said both appointees would bring an extensive record of police experience and skills that would substantially benefit both district police staff and the community.
"Inspector Taylor and Senior Sergeant Cook have many years of policing experience, knowledge and skills, and are both extremely well-placed to lead their respective areas," Inspector Campbell said.
Inspector Taylor has been in the police for 28 years, with all of his service in Southland with appointments in Invercargill, the North Invercargill Policing Centre and in Gore.
His service includes relieving in all of Southland's police stations, as well as being a member of the Southland Search and Rescue Squad and serving in the CIB for 17 years.
Most recently he has held security liaison roles with the New Zealand Olympic Committee at the Australian Youth Olympics in 2007 and the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
Inspector Taylor says a major focus of his is to ensure that the Southland community is involved in the direction policing takes over the coming years.
"I'm also keen to encourage a combined approach to road policing utilising all of our available resources including area staff, highway patrol and district drink-drive groups."
Inspector Taylor said Southland is fortunate to have a stable and experienced police staff, able to deal very well with high-end serious crime.
Senior Sergeant Mike Cook will assume the rank of Inspector when he takes up his new position in mid-March.
Originally from Auckland, Senior Sergeant Cook served as a detective and detective sergeant in the Auckland CIB for 10 years, and was officer-in-charge at a number of stations in the Auckland area before taking a position as sergeant at Queenstown in August 2002. In January 2004, he was appointed as Central Otago sub-area supervisor at the rank of senior sergeant and based in Alexandra. He has regularly relieved in the position of Area Commander Otago Rural.
Senior Sergeant Cook says he looks forward to the challenges of policing the Otago Rural Area.
"We have a great mix of police staff across the area who all contribute a range of skills, experience and dynamics in policing in their respective communities."
"Otago Rural has gained a number of new police staff from the most recent rounds of staff allocations, and I look forward to seeing these new positions making a difference within our communities, especially in the areas of youth crime, community policing and road safety."
Senior Sergeant Cook says he is keen for staff to build on the police's already strong community relationships and to improve the policing profile across the Otago Rural area.