The NSW Police Commissioner has announced she will step down from her role, almost two years before her term was set to end.
Karen Webb, who was the state’s first woman in the role, will retire on 30 September.
Webb said the decision to resign followed conversations with her family, and that she “knew the time was right”.
Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell will fill the role while the NSW Government looks for a replacement.
Webb
Webb joined NSW Police in 1987. In November 2021, she was appointed Police Commissioner by then-Premier Dominic Perrottet.
During her term, NSW Police issued an official apology for its historical handling of hate crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community, and established a Domestic and Family Violence Registry.
Webb’s tenure also saw two major incidents involving police officers.
In May 2023, NSW Police officer Kristian White tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland, after staff at her aged care home called Triple Zero because she was wielding a steak knife.
Nowland, who weighed 47kg and used a walking frame, died of her injuries.
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White was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a community corrections order.
Webb faced criticism because NSW Police was found to have withheld the information that Nowland was tasered in its initial press release about the incident.
Last year, NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon was charged with murder over the deaths of Sydney couple Luke Davies and Jesse Baird.
It has been alleged Lamarre-Condon used his work-issued gun to carry out the murders. He has yet to face trial and has not entered a plea.
Webb was criticised over her handling of the alleged murders, including her lack of public comments about the investigation.
During a TV interview about this criticism, Webb paraphrased Taylor Swift, saying “haters like to hate”.
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Premier Chris Minns congratulated Webb on a “historic career,” saying she will be remembered as a “trailblazing leader”.
“Commissioner Webb has stood tall in moments of crisis, led significant policing reform, and staunchly defended law and order in this state,” Minns said.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley also thanked Webb for her “career of self-sacrifice and public service”.
