Graham Bell, a veteran former detective inspector and the former host of Police Ten 7, has died.
Bell, 78, died yesterday after a battle with cancer, 1News reported.
Bell had a police career spanning 33 years, mainly focused on criminal investigations. In 2001, Bell was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) for his work.
For 13 years, Bell was the presenter of Police Ten 7, a weekly NZ television programme aimed at helping solve serious crime and showcasing the work of the police.
During his time in the force, Bell rose to Detective Inspector in charge of criminal investigations in the Bay of Plenty.
Bell was known for his straight-talking and wry presenting style, for which he won a cult reputation, according to NZ On Screen.
His colourful descriptors included “morons”, “scumbags”, “murderous thugs”, “mindless lowlifes” and “gutless goons”.
He once referred to an offender as “a lunatic scumbag with a steak knife”.
Police Ten 7 – more recently called Ten 7 Aotearoa – finished in 2023, after 21 years and 29 seasons on our screens.
In 1998, Bell led the investigation into the murder of Reporoa woman Beverly Bouma.
Operation Bouma was the most high-profile murder investigation he led during his police career – and there were a few, including the murder of policeman Murray Stretch in Mangakino.
Television production company Screentime approached Bell and asked him to front a show on the murder, the success of that prompted them to invite him to front Police Ten 7.
Friend and former colleague Detective Sergeant Garry Hawkins said Bell was highly respected among the CIB staff.
“He had a presence about him and loved the media and knew how to play them and get the best for us, too. They won because they got a comment, and it worked for us to help crime get solved.”
Hawkins said he was one of about 10 police officers who kept in touch with Bell when he moved to Whitianga and would catch up with him regularly for fishing trips.
“There was a big social and family element to him.”
Bell was also not afraid to speak up if he saw something that wasn’t right in society, Hawkins said.
Former colleague Detective Sergeant Chris McLeod said he worked closely with Bell on the Bouma inquiry and was his second in charge during the Jo-Anne Maree Van Duyvenbooden murder inquiry in Tauranga in 1999.
McLeod said Bell had a great mind for detail and could recall specific information during a time when computer systems and keyword searches weren’t around.
“He could remember in week six of an inquiry a piece of evidence he had read in week one. He had an incredible mind like that.”
The way he resonated with the public via the media was his strength, McLeod said.
“He could throw a one-liner that would grab the attention of the media as well as the public and therefore generate a flow of information.”
McLeod said Bell enjoyed bringing criminals to justice, was authoritative and not afraid to make a decision
“He had a larger-than-life personality that got us resources that we might not have gotten if it were another boss.”
Long-standing Rotorua police officer Detective Matt McLeod paid tribute to Bell, whom he worked under in Rotorua’s CIB during many cases, including Operation Bouma.
Matt McLeod said Bell was “straight up” and led the team well while also taking good care of staff.
“He was a really good motivator and didn’t beat around the bush. He had a great sense of humour.”
In 2023, Bell told Media Insider that he was sad but not surprised Ten 7 had been axed by TVNZ and said political figures should be doing more to help identify and solve causes of crime, rather than criticising a television show.
“Wokeness and political correctness have just killed it in the end,” Bell said. “You can’t hide from reality.”
Bell officially retired as host of the show in 2014 and was replaced by serving police officer Rob Lemoto.
Bell said his descriptors came naturally – they weren’t scripted.
He said he was still often approached in the street by people shouting the likes of, “Have you seen those mongrels yet?”.
While it remained one of New Zealand’s most popular television shows – and a successful export to Australia – it had been subject to critical media commentary, political heat and major academic research.
Bell leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Joyce, his children David, Megan and Chrissy, their partners Shar, Dobbo and Morne, and his grandchildren Tom, Ruby, Scarlett, Ollie, Jack and Bella.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.