Experienced head on young police chief

Mount Maunganui's new top cop may be more fresh-faced than most senior sergeants but the youthful officer is no rookie.
As the busy summer policing period looms, the 33-year-old father-of-one Joel Lamb took up the reins at the New Year hotspot three weeks ago.
The easy-going officer plans to let his ability to make a difference in the community prove he has what it takes to secure the hotly contested role.
"If the community can see the results and they're happy with the job you are doing, then they'll back you."
After graduating from police college in 1999, Mr Lamb spent close to three years working in Auckland at stations in Avondale and Balmoral. He then shifted to the Waikato, spending two and a half years in Te Kuiti before heading south to become the officer in charge of a two-man station in Riverton, on the Southland coast. From there he was promoted to sergeant and spent two years at the Oamaru police station.
Two years later he was officer in charge of the Petone Police Station in Wellington before leaving the beat to work at Police National Headquarters.
Here he provided advice on implementing both governmental and internal changes in the police force.
After two years in the corporate world, Mr Lamb was ready to return to operational policing and applied for the top job leading 29 officers at the Mount.
Mr Lamb spent his childhood in the Bay of Plenty, including a stint at Te Puke High School, and has a lot of family here.
"Everyone seems pretty friendly here and that's my memory of the place - as a friendly place and a happy place to be."
Mr Lamb knew what he was getting himself into when he applied for the role in one of the country's most notorious summer holiday spots but says the days of rioting and trouble at the Mount are over.
"They had a couple of bad years and since those bad years everyone learnt some lessons and since then it's run well."
He said planning for summer policing, which officially begins at Labour Weekend, had already began and was being led by Tauranga Senior Sergeant Rob Glencross while Mr Lamb found his feet in the new community.
Western Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Mike Clement said Mr Lamb was selected from a strong pool of applicants, both locally and from outside the Bay of Plenty.
"He has a keen sense of community which is what I want to see in an officer in charge of a station in the Western Bay."
Asked about the highlights of his career, Mr Lamb said it was seeing the results of working with the community rather than locking up the bad guys.
"Gone are the days when you can just arrest your way out of a problem. You need to work with the community to achieve the results now."
At the end of the school year Mr Lamb will be joined in the Western Bay by his partner and daughter, who he says are looking forward to the move north.
Mr Lamb said the lifestyle offered here was also an incentive to apply for the job.
When he is not at work, the keen outdoorsman enjoys surfing, wakeboarding, fishing, mountain biking and plays a bit of squash.
Mr Lamb replaced Tania Kura who became the first female senior sergeant at Mount Maunganui Police Station in 2005. She now leads the patrol and operational policing school at The Royal New Zealand Police College in Wellington.