Inspector Dave Peff walked into the Rockhampton Police Station filled with nerves, as a cadet, two days after his 21st birthday in 1983.
After 37 years of service in Rockhampton, Brisbane, Mt Isa and Cairns, the 58-year-old has retired, donning his hat and badge for the last time.
"My very first shift was in Rockhampton and then, with a few transfers throughout the course of my career, my very last shift was in the same building," he said.
The job has produced its fair share of challenges for the father-of-three but it has not been without its rewarding moments.
"You just don't know what you're going to face when you come to work, everyday is the same day but it can be a very different day," Inspector Peff said.
"There's not too many jobs that you find where that happens."
Saving lives
Inspector Peff spent much of his career in traffic before climbing the ranks to his position as an Inspector.
Although some may view traffic policing as a repetitive task, Inspector Peff found it extremely rewarding.
He reflected on a standard night of breath testing in the Gulf country where he pulled over a car travelling from Karumba to Normanton.
"The motorist driving the vehicle was somewhere in the vicinity of about five times the legal limit," he said.
"To this day, I'm absolutely confident and satisfied that if we hadn't pulled that person over, there's no way he would've got home — he would've died in a crash.
"He was too drunk and it was the middle of the night.
"At the time he would've hated me understandably, but I'm sure people like that would reflect now that it might have been something that did save their life."
Leading through a natural disaster
Inspector Peff said the 2010/2011 Rockhampton flood was the biggest challenge of his career.
"The irony is in 1991, people remember that was a big flood as well … I remember at the time thinking about the police officer who was in charge of that police response, I clearly remember thinking, 'I would not want that job for all the money in the world'," he said.
"Then you wind the clock forward a number of years and there I am doing exactly the same job."
Inspector Peff spent about 20 days in a row working 18-hour days.
"That was one of those events where we managed to keep the community safe, we got through it," he said.
"It was tough, but very rewarding on reflection."
As to how he will spend retirement, international travel plans have been quashed, but Inspector Peff looks forward to renovating his Queenslander and spending more time with his wife Kerri and children Joseph, Darcy and Roni.
