Three generations of men in the Laumatia family have served in the police, both here and abroad. The risks on the job are something the Laumatia's have had in the back of their minds everyday for decades.
Officers Dave Laumatia with his sons Allan and Charlie beside him Photo: Dave Laumatia
It's part of what moved retired Senior Sergeant David Laumatia to paint a tribute on canvas less than 24-hours after receiving news that a 28-year-old officer in West Auckland had been killed on the job.
Laumatia's painting of an angel hunched over a thin blue line is a common image used by police when a person is lost on duty but the retired Samoan officer's love of painting and his respect for the New Zealand police, in which he served for 33 years, led him to take that symbolic image even further.
Painting by retired Senior Sergeant David Laumatia, a tribute to slain officer Constable Matthew Hunt Photo: Dave Laumatia
"I wanted to show how it impacted me by showing the angel crying and weeping so many tears that it caused a flood underneath it," expained Laumatia.
"That flood represented all the tears from police in New Zealand, from the family and from the community. It's really impacted a lot of people."
After posting a picture of his painting online and receiving an overwhelming response, Laumatia decided to put it up for auction online and will donate all the funds from its purchase to Hunt's grieving whanau.
Laumatia said he was shocked and saddened when he heard about Constable Matthew Hunt's death last Friday.
"Having been in the police I know that that could be any one of us and something that seems pretty routine can turn into someone dying and that really highlights the risks of policing. I felt terrible for the family and their loss," he said.
"Policing is an interesting job in that no two days are the same and things can turn on a dime real quick and I experienced that many times. It can be dead quiet and then the next minute you could be fighting for your life.
"That routine stop that that officer did, I would have done thousands of stops like that and every officer does that and you just don't know what you're going to encounter when you do stop people."
Constable Matthew Dennis Hunt, who was shot and later died in Auckland. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Policing is a familiar service to the family with Laumatia's father having served as a police officer in Samoa and his brother currently serving in the New Zealand police.
Now both Laumatia's sons, Charlie and Allan, are in the police and Laumatia admitted to worrying everyday about their safety and wellbeing on the job.
"Now I know how my wife Jayne felt everytime I walked out that door," Laumatia said.
"When I see my boys doing that, and particularly Allan who lives here with us, we always say to them "We love you" - we say that every single day he goes to work because you just don't know if that's the last time you're going to see them."
Laumatia said some community members have already sent him donations to add on top of the inspired-painting's sale to go towards the Hunt family.
The winner of the auction has the option of keeping the painting or donating it to Hunt's family or the local police station he served in.
Laumatia had a message for Hunt's whanau, "We share in your grief, we share in your pain. Constable Hunt was a part of our family and we are so sorry for your loss and we're here to support you.
"He'll never be forgotten, he'll always be a part of our police family and we will honour him."
