Senior policeman taking up trucking
A Nelson senior police officer is ditching life on the front line for the cab of a water tanker.
Senior Sergeant Blair Hall was farewelled at the Richmond Police Station yesterday, his last day in the force after 21 years.
He said he had recently been on leave and woke up one morning to realise he didn’t want to go back to work.
‘‘To be effective in this organisation, it takes an extraordinary amount of energy and commitment, and after 21 years I feel I’ve given my time,’’ he said.
‘‘I want to go and do something different with the rest of my life.’’
Hall has started a trucking business, Tasman Trucking, to deliver water across the region with a 30,000-litre tanker. ‘‘A lot of developments rely on rainwater, and when it doesn’t rain, they need to get water shipped in,’’ he said.
There was no bitterness about leaving the police force, Hall said – he wanted to leave before there was any negativity.
‘‘I’m not leaving because I don’t like the job. I’m leaving at a time where I’m actually still enjoying the job, still really like the work and still really like the people.’’
The police had been a fantastic career, and his colleagues were ‘‘doing the best they can with what they can’’, he said.
One of the harder aspects was dealing with trauma, particularly with the rise of methamphetamine and its presence in road accidents. ‘‘It astounds me how many fatal crashes have methamphetamine involved,’’ he said.
Turning up to road accidents and informing family members that their loved ones weren’t coming home had been part of the job, but was ‘‘never easy’’.
‘‘You develop coping mechanisms to deal with this, but you’ve also got to realise when you’ve probably had enough.’’
Despite the difficulties, Hall said he would remember the ‘‘good people’’ he’d encountered through the job, and said Nelson was particularly supportive of police work.
‘‘The community doesn’t realise how helpful it is at times, and that’s why Nelson’s got one of the lowest crime rates – because the community cares.’’
Even dealing with the ‘‘other side’’ of society wasn’t what people might imagine, he said.
‘‘They’re not really bad people, they’re just people who are generally in a situation where they’re under extreme pressure or the influence of something.’’
Hall said he had enjoyed seeing the culture in the force improve during his career. ‘‘The way the police now investigate things, especially around family harm, it’s a far more professional organisation than when I joined.’’
Hall was honoured by Nelson Bays Area Commander Mat ArnoldKelly, Tasman Police District Commander Superintendent Mike Johnson, and Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne at his farewell morning tea. They all acknowledged Hall’s long service across the region.
He began his police career in Greymouth, did stints in Marlborough and South Canterbury, took on the role of sole charge officer in Murchison, and then spent 14 years in Nelson and Richmond.
Arnold-Kelly said the turnout for Hall’s farewell – a room full of officers from all areas of police – showed the ‘‘measure of a man’’, and he would be ‘‘sorely missed’’.
‘‘I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody as adept at leading serious incidents,’’ he said. ‘‘It was really heartening to know Blair was there and it was all going to be handled well.’’
Johnson thanked Hall for his professionalism. ‘‘The way you interact with staff and value the people side of it is a real strength for you,’’ he said.
Kempthorne said both he and the council really appreciated Hall’s contribution to both police and volunteer firefighting.
‘‘The way the police now investigate things, especially around family harm, it’s a far more professional organisation than when I joined.’’ Senior Sergeant Blair Hall