New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb will step down from her role later this year.
Webb became the first woman to hold the role when she took over from Mick Fuller in 2022. She will leave the job on 30th September this year.
Commissioner Webb has been in the police force for 38 years.
Speaking to the ABC Commissioner Webb said she was glad to be leaving on her own terms, and had wanted to give the state government sufficient time to recruit her replacement.
“I knew when the time was right I would know, and I wanted to give the state government time to recruit and appoint a new commissioner going into an election period in less than two years’ time,” she said.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley told the NSW parliament that Webb had been a force for change.
“I have nothing but heartfelt thanks for her incredible work and admiration for her many significant achievements,” Catley said.
“She has been a force for change and reform focused on the safety and the wellbeing of the New South Wales Police.”
Webb’s tenure has not be free of controversies. She attracted criticism for her handling of the death of 95-year-old Clare Nowland, who died after being tasered by a police officer, and her response to the deaths of Juke Davies and Jesse Baird who were allegedly murdered by an off-duty police officer.
Webb memorably quoted Taylor Swift lyrics in response to criticism of the handling of the double murder investigation and criticism of her leadership.
In February 2024 Karen Webb delivered a historic apology for years of systematic failures within the NSW police force who failed to properly investigate a significant number of murders and violent assaults against members of the LGBTIQA+ communities.
