One of Hawke's Bay's highest-profile former police officers says he'll put his hand up if the call comes for ex-staff to sign on as temporary officers during the Covid-19 state of emergency.

Keith Price, a now long-serving Napier city councillor who 16 years ago retired from a police career perhaps most notorious for his role in the arrest of child killer Jules Mikus, said: "If the call comes, I'd be in. But in the meantime, I'm staying home."

But he did have some doubts about whether he'd get the chance.

"I'm probably too old, I've been out of it too long," he said, without revealing his age but adding: "I am a pensioner."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In his fifth term elected to the Napier City Council, spanning more than 12 years, he may have some extra time on his hands, with Council cancelling all meetings "until further notice".

An extraordinary meeting of the Council on Tuesday, with the minimum quorum present and others participating via technology from their homes, vested extra authority in former long-time chief executive Neil Taylor to manage the city in his role as Acting CEO since the departure of previous appointee Wayne Jack who left the job earlier this month to take up a position in Australia.