Const Bobbette has been Palmerston’s sole police officer since he arrived in the East Otago township in mid-May.
His eventual arrival came on the back of tragic circumstances after Senior Constable Stefan Witehira, of Palmerston, died at an East Otago High School year 10 camp at Glenorchy in the Queenstown Lakes district on December 6.
The highly-respected officer was also the school’s board of trustees chairman.
Const Bobbette said many in the community have told him he had "big shoes to fill".
"I have a lot of respect for Stefan. It’s sad that he departed the way he did, but I knew the community needed someone, so that’s why I put my hand up to come here. I’m just really glad the people have all welcomed me to the area."
Prior to graduating from the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua in 2014, Const Bobbette spent more than 10 years in the New Zealand Army, serving as an infantry platoon sergeant with the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Division based at Linton.
His service included four tours of duty in East Timor (2001), the Solomon Islands (2003), Afghanistan (2007-08) and Timor-Leste (2011).
The 36-year-old said that experience had helped his policing in Timaru and then Waimate before Palmerston.
He joined the police for similar reasons he signed up to the army - to be a good role model, give back to the community and help others.
Const Bobbette felt that policing in a small town allowed for a "more personal policing approach".
He said the bulk of his work was dealing with traffic matters.
"A lot of people have come up to me and said they’re sick of seeing people speeding on the highway, especially though the main street.
"Generally, it’s traffic complaints coming from the south or north towards me. I’m in the perfect position to engage them and make sure their driving behaviour is not going to kill or injure someone."
Const Bobbette said the biggest challenge of policing in a small town was making sure people reported all crime, no matter how trivial.
"Quite often in smaller towns they’re not going to report it because it’s only minor. But, by them not reporting it we can’t see a picture of how much crime we are actually getting ... and being able to build a pattern so we can target those areas."
In his spare time he fished and hunted, and still played for Waimate’s senior B rugby team.
