About 20 Dunedin officers joined about 20 athletes from throughout Otago for the Law Enforcement Torch Run in support of the Special Olympics.
The torch is one of two travelling from the north and south to meet in Palmerston North, where the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games will be held from December 2, involving more than 1000 athletes in 10 sports.
Sixty-seven athletes will be representing Otago.
Police Commissioner Howard Broad will light the Special Olympics flame at Manawatu Arena to signal the start of the national games.
The relationship between police and the Special Olympics began in 1981 when the police chief in Wichita, Kansas, Richard LaMunyon, saw an urgent need to raise money for and increase awareness of Special Olympics.
Mr Broad said the participation of police fitted with their desire to work in and alongside the community.
Constable Stewart Hewett, of Oamaru, who has been involved with Special Olympics in a personal capacity for more than 18 years, said Australian and United States police forces had a strong relationship with Special Olympics and it was good police were playing a part in New Zealand.
"The games are very social, but they are also a time when [the athletes] can excel. A lot of the time they get left behind. Some of these guys have been to the world games.
"Realistically, when would they get a chance to represent their country otherwise?"
Dunedin is the next host city for the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games to be held in 2013.
