The contingent commander for the 60 Southern district police staff sent to the quake-struck city last week said Christchurch was a "sobering experience".
The central business district, with its severely damaged buildings, resembled a war zone and he likened the area to images of Ground Zero in New York after the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Staff were deployed on 12 to 14-hour night shifts to lock down the CBD, provide site security for the Canterbury Television (CTV) and Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC) buildings, or patrol for looters and to "listen out for trapped people".
Others worked with disaster victim identification (DVI), and the Dunedin Search and Rescue squad assisted the USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) teams.
Insp Dickie said the impact of the quake on Christchurch residents had been reinforced to some staff working in the badly damaged suburb of New Brighton on Monday.
Women ran to hug staff and men cried, "an indication of the tremendous stress these people are under".
"This reinforces the fact that if there is a disaster, neighbourhoods need to support themselves for lengthy periods until emergency service resources can be supplemented from other areas ... and that can take time."
Other images likely to stay with him from the disaster included the two crushed buses in the middle of Colombo St, with their park lights on for days, the sound of cracking windows and the "occasional rat darting across the darkened streets".
He was impressed by the professionalism of the overseas emergency services personnel, USAR and DVI teams.
While most of his time in Christchurch was spent co-ordinating staff, he reflected in the "small hours in what [the quake] must have been like on the day".
"It would have been absolutely frightening and the ongoing trauma continues for the citizens of Christchurch, with ongoing aftershocks and many still lacking essential services and, of course, those who have lost loved ones, some yet to be located."
Insp Dickie said his contingent returned on Tuesday, with the next contingent of 25 Southern district staff ready to leave next week, with more deployments likely.
