Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley started work in Balclutha as the Clutha-Taieri area response manager yesterday following the departure of Senior Sergeant Alastair Dickie.
While she was new to the role, she already knew the area well as she was born and raised in South Otago and attended school in Balclutha.
She was first stationed in Gore after she completed her police training.
And in Gore she earned the rank of detective sergeant, after gaining the required qualification with the Criminal Investigation Branch.
She has been with the police for about 24 years, and moved back to Balclutha after working in Invercargill.
She said the role becoming available in the town was an ''opportunity''.
It was good to be moving back to a rural, ''grass roots'' setting.
She also looked forward to getting to know the community.
''I think that's the exciting bit. There's a lot of accountability when you're running a sub-area.''
Snr Sgt Fairley liked knowing the community was safe.
It was her plan to work on crime prevention.
She understood there was positive feedback on what the current staff gave back to the community.
''These small communities look after themselves if we enable them to.''
However, the rural areas also faced their own challenges.
There were a lot of one-man offices in the district which she still had to visit in order to see what the issues were in each town. That was the plan for this week, she said.
One of the issues she believed the Clutha district faced as a whole was isolated areas and being able to get staff to each location.
''Our crime corridors have opened up. People are coming through and leaving again.''
Snr Sgt Fairley said her knowledge and experience would benefit Balclutha and the Clutha area well.
In order to get to know the area and the people, she invited anyone to come forward and talk to her about issues the district might be facing.
''The door is always open for discussion,'' she said.
