Person of the Year finalists - Adrian Oldham

Senior Constable Adrian Oldham.

ADRIAN OLDHAM
 
Senior Constable Adrian Oldham has been a policeman for 35 years and always resists calls to become a sergeant or detective.

"It just doesn't hold the pizzazz of front-line policing," he says.

"I'm a people person and I like dealing with people."

This year, the Papamoa-based officer was hailed as a hero for rescuing a 77-year-old woman from a burning house.

Mr Oldham, 54, tried to break the front door down then pulled a window off its hinges when he heard the woman slump to the floor inside.

He encountered thick, acrid smoke and was forced to retreat several times before reaching the woman and dragging her outside.

At the time, he said: "That was somebody's grandma in there and I just knew it was up to me."

Drama also followed Mr Oldham in the 1980s, when he was shot at by a Mongrel Mob member, who then forced him into the boot of a police car while pointing a gun at his head.

Mr Oldham said his nomination for Person of the Year was "very humbling" and the person who nominated him said Mr Oldham was highly regarded by his peers and superiors in the police.