"It feels surreal," he said. "It will be interesting waking up tomorrow as Joe Citizen after being Mr Cox for so long, but I'm looking forward to it."

The Detective Chief Inspector at Lake Macquarie Police District spent his last day on the job on Thursday, where a small ceremony was held to celebrate his career.

"I've done my time," he said. "It's a job for the younger crew."

When Mr Cox was part of that younger crew, having joined the Redfern Police Academy as a wide-eyed rookie in 1983, the job was a lot different to now.

"When I started everything was carbon paper and manual typewriters and cable switchboards and now everything's computerised, recorded camera-wise," he said.

"It's just incredible some of the changes that we've seen."

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Mr Cox spent time at several commands across the state, gradually working his way up to Chief Inspector.

His districts included Sydney Metro, Dee Why, Waratah, Brisbane Waters, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. He was also seconded to work at the Sydney Olympic Games.

As an investigator, Mr Cox was deployed to the Major Crime Squad, Lake Macquarie detectives and the Target Action Group (TAG).

He was promoted to Sergeant in 2000 and a Commissioned Officer in 2002, performing duties at Newcastle and later at the Lake Macquarie.

During his service Detective Chief Inspector Cox was awarded numerous honours, including a Region Commander's Commendation for Courage, a Commissioner's Commendation for Courage, NSW Police Medal for Diligent and Ethical Service, the National Police Medal, the National Medal, the NSW Police Commissioner's Olympic Commendation, the NSW Police 150^th Citation and the Police Commissioner's Emergency Commendation.

One of the incidents he was awarded for was his involvement in a high profile arrest in the early 1990s when two jail escapees were on the run after committing a series of armed robberies around the Hunter.

"The highway patrol came upon them, a pursuit occurred and they ended up crashing the car up at Madison Drive at Charlestown," Mr Cox said.

"One of them escaped into the bush armed with a shotgun. I turned up with of a couple of other police, at the time we were members of the Special Weapons Operation Squad.

"We went into the bush after him and chased him for several kilometres until we found him hiding. He tried to discharge the firearm at us but it didn't work and we managed to make the arrest."

But just as memorable for Mr Cox were the smaller moments and the people he worked with. He plans to enjoy his retirement with "friends, family, a bit of motorbike riding and lots of coffee".