Sergeant Steve Ereckson yesterday confirmed his retirement from the New Zealand Police, which is effective from Saturday.
Sgt Ereckson said although he loved his job at the Cromwell station, which he held for 15 years, it was time for him to move on.
"It's a recent decision. I'm going into semi-retirement, although it's not really for people to know what I will be doing. I have got opportunities now and it's time to take those," he said.
It could be months before a new officer to take charge at the Cromwell station is hired.
Senior Sergeant Mike Cook, of Alexandra, said the vacancy was in the process of being advertised internally within the New Zealand Police.
Snr Sgt Cook said the process of advertising a position and appointing someone for it varied.
"Sometimes these things go really smoothly and other times there's reviews of positions and it can drag on for a long time. I wouldn't even want to estimate how long it will take at this stage," he said.
Police from Alexandra and other Central Otago stations would help fellow officers at Cromwell if necessary while the station had a vacancy.
Snr Sgt Cook said it was sad to see Sgt Ereckson leave the force. Central Otago police wished him every happiness in his future role.
