Greg O’Connor has presided over some major issues in his time as the face of the Police Association, the police officers’ union.
Mr O’Connor has not been far away from some major controversies involving the police use of Tasers and his continued support for the arming of police in New Zealand.
He was a senior sergeant in the police before being seconded full-time to the association’s national office.
He was elected president in 1995 and is the longest serving president in the association’s history.
After 21 years in one of the highest-profile jobs in New Zealand, Mr O’Connor has not yet decided what his next steps will be and there are suggestions he may look to politics for his future.
Being the association president meant Mr O’Connor was involved in the politics of police through some difficult periods, carrying himself with the dignity of a service which still requires much public faith.
In his late 50s, Mr O’Connor says he does not have a master plan now he is retiring as president, but he will be sorely missed by frontline police for his strong advocacy of their role in the community.
His advocacy for his association’s members is summed up by him saying he makes sure the lowliest constable’s voice echoes through the halls of power when they need support the most.
Having a disabled son, Mr O’Connor has been giving much of his spare time to looking after a trust for residential support for people living with disabilities — another side of the man of which most of the public will be unaware.
As a young man, he started out in the uniform branch which he described in one interview as a time when he saw the world as black and white — good guys and bad guys.
He went undercover for 18 months which he credits with broadening his world view.
Mr O’Connor came from a West Coast Irish Catholic family and an area with a healthy disrespect for the law, he says.
Recently, some fatal police shootings have brought Mr O’Connor face-to-face with opposition to his position of supporting the arming of police officers.
Police officers want to be able to carry firearms because more offenders have easier access to guns.
When the association surveyed its members, 70% of frontline police said they should be armed.
Figures show nine people were killed by police and another 13 people injured when police have discharged a firearm in the past 10 years.
But police records only go back to 2007.
It is fair to say the faith in the police by the New Zealand public has been sorely tested in recent years.
A lack of numbers has meant some lesser crimes going unsolved.
The increasing number of speeding tickets being handed out is seen as straight revenue gathering by a public concerned about the number of burglaries going unsolved.
Corruption among some police officers has been held up as an example of everything that is wrong with the New Zealand police system.
Whether New Zealanders are ready for an arming of the police is a decision not likely to be made soon, but it will continue as violent crime happens more often in New Zealand.
Throughout the general melee, Mr O’Connor has firmly held the line of supporting his members and that is not easy to do in the time of images of any police activity posted within seconds of happening on social media.
However New Zealanders regard Mr O’Connor, he must be applauded for his unwavering support of his members through some difficult years.
New Zealand policing has gone through major changes in the last 21 years, and the advent of reality television has brought not only New Zealand police into our living rooms, but also the activities of police forces from around the world.
Mr O’Connor has been there through those changes and, although not universally popular, he leaves a large legacy in the history of policing in New Zealand.
