Senior Sergeant Ian Campion has been in the police for 40 years. Photo / John Borren
"Even after 40 years, I never have a morning when I don't want to go to work."
Although there are parts of his job that he will always struggle with, the highlights of Senior Sergeant Ian Campion's 40 years in policing guarantee he still loves what he does.
As the head of the Western Bay of Plenty's road policing team, Mr Campion is involved in everything from ticketing speedsters and educating young people to dealing with fatal car crashes and improving the safety of local roads.
Before moving to New Zealand and becoming a police officer, Mr Campion grew up in Malawi, southern Africa.
"A lot of my really enjoyable times were when we were living on the outskirts of town. We used to wander off to the villages.
"A number of our friends were Africans, we used to sit with them in the school holidays and listen to the old bands that played. Their instruments were hand made, there was a bass made out of a tea chest, string and a bit of wood.
"It was a fabulous country to grow up in. The Shona tribe there are very peace keeping, caring people."
When he left school, he could not get a job locally in Malawi, so after several months of "getting under my parents' feet", he applied to join the British South African Police in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
"I joined up as a cadet initially, then as a patrol officer. That's where I got the taste for policing, although it was significantly different than here.
"My parents were contracted to the Malawi Government. When they decided to move on, they emigrated to New Zealand. At the end of my three-year contract in 1974, I moved up with them."
When he realised that working for the Ministry of Transport as a traffic officer meant he was able to ride a motorbike, Mr Campion was sold.
The job has its ups and downs - he has achieved a lot in his 40 years by making our roads safer - but dealing with families distraught at the loss of a loved one is never easy.
One major achievement in Mr Campion's long career was being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to police and the community in the 2014 New Year's Honours.
When working as an instructor at traffic college, Mr Campion said he got a huge sense of satisfaction from taking inexperienced and somewhat naive traffic college students and, over three months, helping mould them into competent traffic officers.
Another highlight was when, five years ago, Mr Campion pulled together a working group to look at the crashes on State Highway 29 with a group of road safety people, including ACC, NZ Transport Agency and Travel Safe.
An action plan was created that involved allocating two patrol cars to the highway for two shifts.
"The first year, we reduced crashes on the Kaimais by 64 per cent. The second year was about another 18 per cent reduction in crashes.
"We went for a three-year period without any fatalities out there."
In 2013, the Western Bay of Plenty achieved its lowest ever road toll. But in 2014, 16 people died on local roads and, this year, there have already been 15 deaths.
"Hopefully this is just a blip. We've got a long way to go to get back to 2013 levels."
The hardest part of his job is dealing with the family members of people seriously injured or killed in crashes.
"The emotional side of that is quite stressful. I don't have any problem with dealing with crash sites, it's dealing with the personal side of it that's the hardest.
"Ask any police officer what their hardest job is, it's informing next of kin that they have lost their family members."
Mr Campion has attended serious and fatal car crashes all over the Western Bay of Plenty. He remembers every site.
"That's a negative for me. When driving around the Western Bay, I'm reminded of every single site of where there was a fatal crash. I don't want to select any particular ones out and revictimise those families, but we've had our fair share of difficult ones."
The crashes involving children were particularly hard, he said.
"They haven't had the opportunity, haven't had a chance in life. That definitely affects me and affects all our staff. It affects ambulance and fire service, any of those emergency services."
Dealing with people is Mr Campion's favourite part of the job.
"I love people. The special part of the job is where people actually appreciate what we do. When people come back to us with a thank you or a written letter thanking staff for their hard work, those things motivate you to keep going and working hard."
Mr Campion said the biggest challenge of his job was keeping people safe on the roads.
"One of the biggest challenges with that is actually getting people to understand that the work done by police in the road policing section is about keeping them safe and not about just ticketing for ticketing's sake."
Road users needed to understand that the problem with speeding was a matter of "simple physics".
"The faster you go, the bigger the mess. That's the hardest message to get people to understand. If you want to drive your car 100km/h, it will take you at least three football fields to stop. Even 5km/h over the speed limit can make the difference between whether you survive or not."
On a positive note, Mr Campion has seen an improvement in Tauranga drivers' behaviour in his 11 years in the city.
"Drivers are a lot more courteous and sensible now. The vast majority of people here are doing a great job."
Drink-driving has reduced significantly in the Western Bay, particularly among the under-20s.
Outside the office, Mr Campion has a wide range of interests, from hunting to jetskiing. "I enjoy the bush. It gets me away from people and cellphones and things like that.
"Whilst that activity is often referred to by my friends as taking my rifle for a walk, it's something I get a great deal of enjoyment out of."
He is also a member of the Tauranga Jet Sport Association and is actively involved in the club's social events.
Mr Campion has two adult sons in their 30s - one lives in Auckland and the other in Hastings.
Contrary to popular notion, Mr Campion said shifts worked in well with family life. "You get that extra time off during the day with your kids."
His entire family travelled back to Africa in 1999 for a holiday and Mr Campion got to see the Victoria Falls for the first time - an item crossed off his bucket list.
Malawi had changed hugely since he left as a young man. The basic infrastructure had collapsed, the roads were "shocking" and the economy was "basically non-existent".
"There wasn't a great deal of wealth in the place. Despite that, the local people were still friendly and appeared happy."
Tauranga is Mr Campion's home and it is where he plans on staying for the foreseeable future.
"Even though I joke about it being the jewel of the Bay of Plenty, it really is."
He does not plan on retiring any time soon but has an "exit plan" he refuses to divulge.
"I still think I've got a few years left in me, to be fair. I've got an exit plan in mind but I'll still be around for a few years."
•Mr Campion's parents were sent to Malawi on a British Government posting and this is where Mr Campion spent his childhood.
•Aged 17, Mr Campion joined the British South African Police in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where he spent the next four years.
•When his parents moved to New Zealand, Mr Campion followed suit and joined the Ministry of Transport in July, 1975.
•His first posting was in Tokoroa, where he worked until 1982, then returned to traffic college as an instructor for five years.
•He then moved to Rotorua as sub-area controller in August, 1987, through the integration of the Traffic Safety Service with the police, and was later moved to general duties as shift commander.
•Mr Campion took a break from policing for two years without pay in 1995 and bought a Muffin Break franchise in Lynmore.
•In 1997, he was posted to Auckland Central and later that year was moved to Henderson, where he worked in various roles, from shift commander to human resources.
•In August 2004, Mr Campion was transferred to the Western Bay, where he has been ever since.
•Mr Campion took two overseas deployments to Bougainville, in 2010 and 2011.
•In the 2014 New Year's Honours, Mr Campion was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to police and the community.