West Coast post becomes permanent

One of Dunedin's top police officers has officially taken over as the West Coast area commander.

Inspector Mel Aitken confirmed yesterday she had accepted the job on a permanent basis and was enjoying working in her new role.

Insp Aitken had been the temporary West Coast area commander since January, taking over from John Canning to oversee restructuring in the district.

"It's great now that I can actually start hooking into things I actually want to implement,'' she said. "It's been quite an easy transition because I've been doing it.''

Her husband, Sergeant Steve Aitken, had continued in his role in Dunedin but would join her in Greymouth on June 20.

"I can't wait. We'll be together again,'' she said.

Sgt Aitken said although he would be based in Greymouth, he was taking up a role in the Tasman policing district working for the operations manager.

"I've been here [Dunedin] a long time and it will be a change but I'm quite excited about it.''

He would miss working in Dunedin and miss the associations he dealt with on a day-to-day basis.

"We've got a lot of good people here,'' he said.