New Police Commissioner was former Hawke's Bay AOS chief

A former Hawke's Bay police Armed Offenders Squad commander is to be the new Commissioner of Police.
The appointment of Peter Marshall to take up the position in April, replacing retiring commissioner Howard Broad, was announced yesterday by Minister of Police Judith Collins.
Currently a police commissioner in the Solomon Islands and having served much of his 38 years' police service in Auckland, Mr Marshall was based in Hawke's Bay for about three years in the mid-1990s as an inspector, second-in-command of what was then the Hastings Police District.
His duties included being officer-in-charge of the combined Hawke's Bay police AOS, in which, according to one officer involved at the time, he was highly regarded as a "very good leader".
That was reiterated by the Minister, who said: "Mr Marshall is a very experienced and respected police officer who brings 38 years' policing experience to this extremely important position.
"I am confident that he will uphold the values of integrity, courage, energy and public safety that make our police the finest in the world," she said.
Following his service in Hawke's Bay, Mr Marshall headed the policing of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Auckland in 1995, and after the attacks in 2001 spent two years in Washington DC establishing a New Zealand Police liaison officer for counter-terrorism.
In 2003 he was appointed Assistant Commissioner, with a central leadership role in charge of crime reduction and public safety, and in 2007 was seconded to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
Speaking from the Solomons, Mr Marshall said he was looking forward to getting out in the police districts, reacquainting himself with police personnel and getting to grips with their issues and being a strong advocate for the staff, after his time in the Islands.
Police Association vice-president Chris Cahill, a former Napier detective, said the appointment would go down well among police as he was a very experienced officer in New Zealand and that had been complemented by his work in the Solomons.
Prime Minister John Key personally approved the appointment.
Mr Marshall would be Police Commissioner for a term of three years, not the usual five, and Mr Key said this was to provide an opportunity to review performance and make sure that very senior appointments realised they had to deliver.
"Members of the public want to see a police presence and that is something I am very focused on," Mr Marshall said.
He said he was well aware of policing in New Zealand and would continue the work done on tackling clandestine drug laboratories, organised crime through financial tracking, gang problems and road policing.
"Policing is innately interesting to me and I look forward to the next three years and will give 100 per cent to it."
He will now focus on finishing up his work in the Solomons before returning to set up in Wellington in preparation for his new role.