A respected member of the New Zealand police force will be retiring from his post next month, as he takes up a new role with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Superintendent John Price has worn the navy and blue colours for over three decades, taking up his post in Canterbury as District Commander in June 2015.
Since his appointment, he’s guided the region through national events including the 2016 north Canterbury earthquakes and Port Hills fires.
He also led Christchurch police through the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack where 51 people died.
New Zealand Police announced on Friday the revered commander will be retiring from his role on March 12, when he will take up the director role with NEMA.
In a statement to the media, Price said serving the police and community for the past 36 years has been “an absolute privilege”.
“I’m extremely grateful to the talented, professional and dedicated staff I’ve had the pleasure of working with throughout my career.
“[As well as] the exceptional partners who have all worked together for a safer and better community.”
Price also thanked the Canterbury community for its support - particularly due to the “challenging and traumatic events” that are inherent in police work.
He said the best elements in people shone through during these incidents, where communities demonstrated courage and compassion.
“To see real humanity at its best out of many crisis situations reminds me that our community, our partners, and our police team are the everyday heroes.
“Their pure drive for justice, peace and safety are the foundations of our community.”
Price began his career with the police in 1987, working in Wellington mostly with the CIB to assist with high-profile investigations.
He was also chosen to serve in Rotorua with Operation Austin - an investigation into historical offending by police where the integrity of policing was compromised.
According to Price, this was the hallmark of his career.
In 2005, he was then deployed to Operation Phuket, following the Boxing Day tsunami, as an antemortem commander in the international Disaster Victim Identification team.
Price then returned to his home district Canterbury on promotion to Inspector.
During the Canterbury Earthquake sequence, which included the February 2011 quake, he was Operations Commander and acting District Commander for Operation Earthquake.
Price managed the command and control, rescue and search phases.
He then served as Kāpiti-Mana Area Commander and, from 2012 as superintendent, was the National Training and Development manager at the Royal New Zealand Police College.
“It was a genuine highlight to enable our people to be their best through training and development,” he said.
Price then relieved as district commander in Canterbury, Northland and Central before returning to Canterbury as District Commander in June 2015 - where he remained until his retirement.
His service has been officially recognised on numerous occasions, being awarded Officer of the Most Venerable Order of St John in 2020 and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said Price had made an enormous contribution to New Zealand Police during his tenure.
“He has been presented with some unique challenges in his District Commander role in Canterbury over almost eight years and has navigated those well.
“I sincerely thank him for his service to Police, to the communities he has served and for his personal support to me as commissioner.”
The chief executive of NEMA, Dave Gawn, recognised Price’s “strong leadership skills and response experience” as the agency announced the appointment.
Price kicks off his directing role with NEMA on March 13. Until this time, Roger Ball will continue to be the acting director Civil Defence Emergency Management.