Tauranga top cops celebrate 126 years on the beat

Wayne Hunter, Greg Turner and Trevor Brown have each served more than 40 years on the Tauranga police force, and neither man is stopping anytime soon. Photo / Andrew Warner

After a combined 126 years on the job it would be easy to assume three of Tauranga's most senior police officers would want to call it quits.

But Detective Senior Sergeant Greg "Turbo" Turner, acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter and Sergeant Trevor "Brownie" Brown aren't planning on going anywhere, anytime soon.

Turner, Hunter and Brown have this year each marked 42 years of service with the New Zealand Police. What, perhaps, is more remarkable is the three Tauranga policemen all began in the same wing at the Royal New Zealand Police College together all those years ago.

Reporter Kiri Gillespie met with the trio to find out what keeps them coming back to their jobs, 42 years later.

It's a cold, grey day when Greg "Turbo" Turner, acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter and Sergeant Trevor "Brownie" Brown gather in an interview room at the Monmouth St police station.

Under fluorescent lights Hunter and Brown sit dressed in uniform blue, lapels framing their grinning faces. In between them sits Turner in a green collar and tie, his usual serious public face is relaxed and jovial today.

The banter begins.

Turner explains how Hunter and Brown had already been at the Royal New Zealand Police College for a couple of months before he arrived but quickly became known as jokers.

"These two buggers put on instructors' uniforms in the middle of the night and rolled us out of bed and got us marching at 1am. We all fell for it," Turner said.

The three men all laugh at the memory.

Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Hunter pictured at the Tauranga Eastern Link. Photo / File

Hunter and Brown enrolled at police college when they were each 17 years old. Turner was 19.

The trio's then tender age meant it was against the law for them, as officers, to deal with mental health patients.

"We couldn't even go into a pub unless we were working", Hunter said.

Over the years, the men have grown into some of the Western Bay of Plenty's most senior and highly regarded police officers.

Turner leads the CIB detective unit, which investigates some of the district's most heinous crimes. Hunter currently heads the Western Bay's busy road policing team and Brown helps lead officers on the front line.

Turner said they were lucky to be based in the Western Bay, which had a "team culture that I haven't seen anywhere else where I've worked in the country".

"That's what makes this place special to work in. These two guys here are totally outstanding and will just drop whatever they are doing to help anyone else. It's just the way it is here."

Brown referred to how varied and rewarding the police work could be. One moment he was dealing with the heartbroken family of a murder victim, then a few hours later "scrapping it out" with the offender in the back blocks of Te Puke.

"There aren't too many jobs where after 42 years I can say I love coming to work," he said.

"To me, it's that saying (He aha te mea nui o te ao, what is the most important thing?) he tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It's people, people, people."

Sometimes, those people included offenders.

Turner points out that Brown regularly writes to a person serving 11 years in jail, and supplies him with paper so he can write back.

Then Detective Trevor Brown pictured in 2004 following the disappearance of Tauranga man John Duff. Photo / File

Brown is a little embarrassed but said: "he's got no one else".

"And that is a classic example of Brownie's compassion," Turner said.

Each man took comfort to know they were making a difference. It was that which brought them back through those station doors every day.

Hunter agreed, referring to a night where he and his family were out for dinner when a man sat down and joined them.

"He wanted to say 'thank you' for locking him up a month earlier. He had been a drug addict and arresting him had helped apparently.

"My family wasn't that impressed but I was. That has really stuck with me over the years."

Hunter's wife also acts as his sounding board after he's dealt with particularly gruesome or stressful jobs.

"She doesn't like it a lot because I give her some gory details, often over dinner," Hunter said.

Turner and Brown said they also dealt with the job's tougher moments by "talking it out", often with each other and other colleagues.

Brown said referring to police as a family was clichéd "but it actually is a little bit like that".

"You get to know your workmates but they become your friends and family as well."

Despite the years, none of the trio plans to retire anytime soon.

Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner at a double murder press conference in 2005. Photo / File

Turner said "something might happen" in the next couple of years, while Hunter plans to retire in five years' time and Brown expects to potentially still be around in 10 years.

Hunter said he was a little concerned that "I'm going to lose a big part of my life".

"It's just not like any other job. I've got friends in other jobs but they don't do anything like we do here."

Turner explained: "Every day is different, every day is a great challenge. You can't just turn that off.

"But what is so encouraging when you walk out, there's some outstanding staff that will carry on. Life will go on."

Each of the men is involved in helping others outside of their police roles. Turner works with Decision Outreach, a programme offering positive, proactive pathways for youth while Brown and Hunter fundraise for a welfare support fund that supports police staff and their families affected by illness or trauma. Hunter also spends his time off from work leading youth trips around New Zealand.

While they don't know exactly what's in store for them when they eventually step away from their roles, they can take heart in knowing they've helped make the city a better place.