But it could have been so different.
''I actually joined the police by accident,'' retired Southern District commander Superintendent Bob Burns (55) said yesterday.
The former survey technician had just come back from a year in Australia, when the then 23-year-old decided to go with a mate to an appointment with a police recruitment officer.
''The recruitment sergeant demanded to know why I wasn't in the police ... Before I knew it, I was sitting the test as well, and joined the police with my friend.
''It was the best thing I ever did.''
That three decade-long police career included the Wingatui-raised officer being shot at, having several bones broken, his nose broken and his eyes blackened, but his sense of humour remained well and truly intact.
Being shot at was ''sobering''.
While he struggled to recall his first arrest, he did remember his first not-guilty verdict.
The case involved a bottle of liquor stolen from the Robbie Burns bottle store, in Dunedin, and much to the judge's amusement the arresting officer was none other than Robert Burns.
''He found it highly amusing when he was doing his summing up ... I found that very embarrassing.''
However, his famous namesake may have come in handy when he applied for his role as the Southern District commander over five years ago, while serving in the Bay of Plenty.
''I said to the interviewing panel 'wouldn't it be great to be known as the panel that returned Robbie Burns to Dunedin?'. That must have worked, or maybe it was because I was an expert on crime and crash reduction.''
After starting in Dunedin, he later worked in Upper Hutt as a sergeant, and was later promoted to senior sergeant while stationed in Wanganui, where he was involved with a trial of new intelligence-driven policing.
''We got some fantastic results, which changed my whole philosophy and style of policing.''
After Wanganui he went to Nelson and served with the Armed Offenders Squad in both areas.
His most memorable callout was the 1997 Raurimu massacre, in which Stephen Lawrence Anderson shot dead six people and wounded four others with his father's shotgun at a family gathering in the remote town, 34km southeast of Taumarunui.
Supt Burns recalled how officers found people ''who were basically executed''.
''It was a horrifying scene.''
Another memorable time during his tenure was working in Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake.
''Christchurch was quite different altogether.''
Supt Burns said he was delighted with changes and results in the Southern Police District - particularly the 26% drop in crime during his tenure.
''I guess the results mean it is a lot safer out there for everybody in their individual communities.''
Those results were achieved by introducing a more flexible approach to crime prevention, a renewed focus on offenders and victims of crime, and working in partnership with other agencies.
That drop in crime was likely to be his legacy in the job, and he paid credit to the hard work by his police colleagues.
''I have been lucky. I have had a fantastic career ... I won't miss dealing with budgets, restructuring and redundancies or internal complaints but I will miss the teams, the camaraderie and the people.''
