Past and present police divers reunited in Wellington today to celebrate fifty years of service.
Celebrations today gave the public a rare glimpse into the job only 85 officers have been part of since the New Zealand Police Dive Squad began.
"We used to get a diving allowance of a $1.27 a day, you think about it now and it's quite laughable," former police diver Glen Findlay told 1 NEWS.
Whenever the Dive Squad travels it carries around 500kg worth of luggage including an underwater camera, but it's also this new technology that allows divers to do their job more efficiently.
"When I started it was all by Morse code, line signals and float signals and to be honest it was probably the best place to be, under water, cause no one was yelling at you," said Senior Sergeant Bruce Adams.
But for divers past and present, some things don't change, including the joy of finding someone alive.
Mr Adams was part of the team that rescued Rob Hewitt, who was lost at sea for three nights in Wellington 12 years ago.
"I suppose everyone was not expecting to find Rob alive, unfortunately that day was shocking, it certainly wasn't conducive to any diving, we decided to go back out and have a quick look and found Rob floating in the water."
Today's celebrations also aimed to inspire others into the job.
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