Constable Matthew Hunt was shot dead during a routine traffic stop in June this year.
That day he became the 33rd police officer killed by a criminal act in the line of duty.
Today in episode 11 of NZME podcast A Moment In Crime we look back at the frontline deaths and revisit some of the stories that have shocked and saddened New Zealand.
The episode comes two days before the annual police Remembrance Day - a date marked internationally to pay tribute to cops killed while on duty, and others who have died during the year.
Matthew Dennis Hunt was born and raised in Auckland.
His lifelong dream was to become a police officer and after he finished school he obtained a bachelor of arts in criminology and worked as a case manager at Auckland Prison before travelling to live and work in Britain.
He returned home in 2017 to attend the Royal New Zealand Police College and graduated in October that year.
Hunt was a promising young cop who wanted to become a detective.
He worked hard, trained hard and did all he could to fast track his career.
But that was all taken away in a matter of seconds on June 19 this year.
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Hunt and his partner signalled for a driver to pull over - a routine traffic stop on a routine shift on a very routine Friday morning.
But the motorist drove off.
The officers followed him but lost sight of the car.
When they found it crashed on Reynella Drive in Massey, West Auckland, Hunt's partner got out of the patrol car and approached.
As Hunt radioed for assistance the driver of the crashed car got out and pointed a long-barrelled firearm at his partner.
He fired repeatedly, felling the officer.
Hunt then got out of the car and was also shot multiple times.
He died at the scene.
His partner survived but was badly injured.
A man has been charged with Hunt's murder and is currently before the courts.
Hunt's death came 11 years after the last police killing, when Senior Constable Len Snee was shot dead in Napier by local drug dealer Jan Molenaar during another routine exercise.
Snee and two colleagues had been executing a warrant in a bid to find drugs at Molenaar's Chaucer Rd property.
Molenaar killed Snee and badly wounded the two other men.
After a lengthy stand off, Molenaar took his own life.
In episode 11 of A Moment In Crime senior journalist Anna Leask looks back at the deaths - and pays tribute to the fallen officers.
The officers are:
Constable Matthew Hunt, June 2020
Senior Constable Len Snee, May 2009
Sergeant Don Wilkinson, September 2008
Sergeant Derek Wootton, July 2008
Detective Constable Duncan Taylor, July 2002
Constable Lester Murray Stretch, May 1999
Constable Glenn McKibbin, April 1996
Sergeant Stewart Guthrie, November 1990
Senior Constable Peter Umbers, May 1990
Traffic Officer Robin Dudding, April 1986
Traffic Officer Barry Gibson, June 1977
Constable Peter Murphy, September 1976
Sergeant Gilbert Peter Arcus, February 1970
Detective Constable Ronald Bernard Hill, May 1969
Constable Donald Stokes, August 1966
Constable Bryan Schultz, February 1963
Constable James Richardson, February 1963
Detective Inspector Wallace Chalmers, January 1963
Constable Louis Hekenui (Heke) Bidois, May 1956
Sergeant William Shore Hughes, May 1951
Traffic Officer John Kehoe, January 1949
Constable Edward Best, October 1941
Constable Percy Tulloch, October 1941
Constable Frederick Jordan, October 1941
Sergeant William Cooper, October 1941
Constable James Butler, January 1938
Constable Thomas Heeps, October 1934
Constable James Dorgan, August 1921
Constable Vivian Dudding, October 1919
Constable John Doyle, February 1913
Sergeant John Patrick Hackett McGuire, April 1910
Constable Neil McLeod, July 1890
Episode 11 is available on the Herald website today - and you can listen on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
A Moment In Crime is written, hosted and produced by Leask with help from the NZME sound and vision team.
Leask has been covering crime and justice for the Herald for more than a decade and has reported on most of the major incidents and events over that time.
"Each month I'll take you inside some of our most infamous incidents, notorious offenders and behind the scenes of high-profile trials and events to show you what's really happening in your backyard," she said.
"Heroes and villains battle for justice to be done, and it seems no matter how horrifying the story, we always want to know more.
"If you want to know more about the cases that have shocked and shaped our nation - from murders and massacres to violent villains and the utterly unbelievable - join me for A Moment In Crime."
In our first episode, we looked back at the Christchurch terror attack - what unfolded on March 15 and how it changed New Zealand.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO EPISODE 1 OF A MOMENT IN CRIME
The podcast has also delved into the death of West Auckland toddler Aisling Symes, the cold case murder of Kayo Matsuzawa, the murder of Feilding farmer Scott Guy, the cold case of schoolgirl Alicia O'Reilly and double killer Jason Somerville, infamous for the Christchurch House of Horrors.
In 2017, Leask wrote and hosted Chasing Ghosts - a six-part podcast series on the Amber-Lee Cruickshank case.
The South Island toddler disappeared almost 27 years ago from a small town on the shore of Lake Wakatipu.
READ MORE AND LISTEN TO CHASING GHOSTS HERE
Despite exhaustive and repeated searches, there has never been any sign of the little girl.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Amber-Lee's disappearance, Leask investigated the famous cold case in a bid to generate some answers for the toddler's family.
It was the Herald's first true-crime podcast.
To subscribe to A Moment In Crime visit iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
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