Ex-Wairarapa top cop quits force

The man who until late last year was head of police in Wairarapa, Inspector John Johnston, will retire at the end of next month after a 40-year career in the force.
Mr Johnston confirmed he is signing off as a sworn police officer but hopes to stay on in one of several roles he is now involved in with police sport.
He is planning to remain as sport's manager for the 2012 Australasian Police and Emergency Games but will relinquish his position as director of sport for the New Zealand Police Council of Sport and another associated role.
When quitting his Wairarapa job last October, Mr Johnston said he would retire from the police in mid-2012 but he has now brought that forward a year.
He has been commuting each day from Masterton to the NZ Police College at Porirua, where the sporting directorship is based.
The games were to be held in Christchurch in March next year but because of the damage done by the earthquakes there will be a change of venue, with Lower Hutt likely to host them.
The organisation that goes into the games is no mean feat, with an estimated 2500 athletes taking part. Mr Johnston said when his active sworn officer role ends next month he would have served 40 years and 10 months in the police force. Apart from Masterton, he has served in Hastings, Wellington and the Hutt Valley.
He was in a management role at the Office of the Commissioner and was Upper Hutt area controller before being named Wairarapa area commander.