Retired Napier area police commander Kevin Kalff, 63, died on Monday after battling cancer.
An officer for 43 years, it was as Inspector Kevin Kalff that he was officer-in-charge of Napier from 1998-2012, including leading the initial response to the shooting of three of his senior staff in 2009.
Mr Kalff often said that the killing of Len Snee and near-fatal shootings of fellow senior constables Grant Diver and Bruce Miller, during a drugs search at gunman Jan Molenaar's home in Chaucer Rd, had been the worst day of his police career.
But he also said the way his staff responded was the highlight of his career, for which he was awarded the Queen's Service Medal (QSM) in the 2013 New Zealand Queen's Birthday Honours.
"A very special day - quite a feeling," he said after his investiture by Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae at Government House, Wellington.