It is ground Humphrey is very familiar with, having cut his teeth and moved up the ranks in the force in Port Stephens and the Lower Hunter area during his 42-year policing career. Following a five year absence from the police that takes in Dungog and surrounds, the last 18 months of which was spent as commander of the Newcastle City Police District, Humphrey is back and in charge of his old stomping ground.

Humphrey takes over from Superintendent Chad Gillies who, as part of a Hunter and Central Coast-wide shake-up of police district commanders, has moved to the Tuggerah Lakes district. A little more than a week back as commander of the Port Stephens-Hunter district, Humphrey said he was not looking to make any major changes as he settled into the role but had his eye on a number of areas of focus.

"Superintendent Gillies has left me the place in really good order. I'll make changes that suit the things I want to do but they won't be too significant to start with. We're a very well performing district in the region," he said.

"We'll maintain our focus on domestic violence, RBT and road safety. We're also focusing on youth and youth engagement and diversion. I know there's some disenfranchised youth in the district and we're working our way through getting those young men and women into programs."

Wayne Humphrey knew what he was going to do once he left school.

"I always wanted to be in the cops," he said. "It was either that or a soldier. I wanted the structure and never thought of being anything else. I joined straight from school. I always knew I would try and make a career out of it. I never thought I would get to Superintendent. I would have been happy with Sergeant."

After being sworn into the NSW Police Force in 1981, Humphrey spent the first six years of his career policing in Sydney. He moved to Nelson Bay to live in 1986 while working in Newcastle then Raymond Terrace. In 1988, Humphrey went to Nelson Bay and worked with the water police. He was one of two detectives originally stationed at Nelson Bay. Taking a sabbatical from plain clothes work, in 1999 he served as the lock-up keeper at Dungog.

By 2001, Humphrey was promoted to detective sergeant and worked on Strike Force Sibret - the investigation into motorcycle gangs which is credited for severely depleting the methamphetamine trade between Newcastle and the Gold Coast. By 2002 he was promoted to Inspector duty officer of Newcastle, and in 2003 promoted to Chief Inspector duty officer at Lower Hunter Command. The career trajectory has continued ever since with positions of crime manager, operations manager and Chief of Staff for the Region Commander.

"Now I've come back as the commander. It's been a long journey," Humphrey said.

Despite working in and out of Port Stephens on and off for the past 30 years, Humphrey said he loved living in the police district.

Asked what it is like to police the community in which he lives, Humphrey said there were positives and drawbacks.

"Policing in the area in which you live can be interesting at times because you become always available and the higher your profile is, the more available you become. Some of the conversations I have when I'm getting groceries are very different to what the normal person would be exposed to."