Wairarapa's top police officer is stepping down to take up a leadership role on a national project at police headquarters in Wellington.
Wairarapa's Area Commander, Inspector Brent Register, 38, is leaving to take on the role of operational change leader for the police's human resource management information system project in Wellington next week.
Mr Register said after four years it felt like time to move on.
"I'm pretty sad to leave such a great community but I've completed almost four years so it's time for someone else to lead the police in the Wairarapa."
Although his new role is not a formal promotion in terms of rank, it represented a great opportunity to lead a nationwide project, Mr Register said.