New police commissioner Mick Fuller to target lone wolf attackers and boost understaffed areas
EXCLUSIVE: The state’s new Police Commissioner Mick Fuller will set up an anti-extremism unit to seek to head off “lone wolf” attacks and ramp up the police presence at potential terror targets.
NSW
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THE state’s new Police Commissioner Mick Fuller will set up an anti-extremism unit to seek to head off “lone wolf” attacks and ramp up the police presence at potential terror targets.
State Cabinet yesterday appointed Mr Fuller to replace Andrew Scipione, and in an interview with The Daily Telegraph the new commissioner said he might disband Operation Talon — the group set up to deal with drive-by shootings.
Mr Fuller said he wanted to break down “silos” in the force and boost understaffed local area commands, rather than having specialist strikeforces become permanent.
Mr Fuller also put the future of Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn in doubt, saying of her prospects and those of fellow deputy Dave Hudson: “I haven’t mapped out the new vision to them and in fairness that will need to take place.
“Whether they accept that and they come for the journey; whether they accept my style of leadership, I guess remains to be seen.”
The 48-year-old Assistant Commissioner beat out Ms Burn and Mr Hudson, other assistant commissioners, former deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas and Australian Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg for the role.
He starts work on Monday, with Mr Scipione performing a handover today after 10 years in the job.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Police Minister Troy Grant announced the appointment yesterday, with the Premier lauding Mr Fuller’s CV.
The new commissioner was quick to draw a line under the police bugging scandal that has beset the force, and caused a huge rivalry between Mr Kaldas and Ms Burn.
“I think there needs to be a ‘put it behind us’ process,” he said.
“I think the community just want us to focus on the community and I think the troops on the ground want some strong leadership. They don’t want it to be about an individual.”
Mr Fuller said lone wolf terrorism would be a central focus.
“We need to move quickly to continue to disrupt terrorism and ... (with) prevention we’ve got to move into that space, particularly with youth,” he said.
“We need to create an environment where neighbours and friends and family members are confident to report changes in people and that report doesn’t mean police will crash through the door.
“But there will be a response by police and government agencies to hopefully intervene with that individual before they drive a car through a crowd of people.”
The new commissioner said he would put more cops on Sydney’s streets, as had occurred in London and Paris after recent terror attacks.
He said he did not want “a police state” but he wanted a police presence “at transport hubs, during sporting events, in city areas” at certain times.
Mr Fuller conceded the police response to terrorism was “put into question” after the Lindt siege, in which a civilian was shot.
“I can’t hide from that and the coroner will hand his report down in a matter of weeks and we need to deal with that quickly, in a transparent way,” he said.
“Organised crime is a problem,” he also conceded, including drive-by shootings.
“I’ll be looking closely at the makeup of our state crime command and other investigative areas ... to ensure that significant efforts are going into prevention and disruption,” Mr Fuller said.
Breaking down silos, however, would give him “a much bigger pool of police who can move quickly to stamp out these crimes”. This could mean disbanding Talon, though Mr Fuller said its philosophy — “the disruption of organised crime” — would continue.
Mr Fuller also said the state would emerge from the “ice scourge”, as it had from the “heroin scourge”.
COMMENT: THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE TOUGHEST OF JOBS
MICK Fuller is a tough-looking character who has taken on one of the toughest jobs in NSW.
It is a job with no shortage of critics — be they crime journalists, cops, talkback commentators or the Police Association.
So Gladys Berejiklian and Troy Grant thought carefully before selecting Fuller. And the Premier looking relieved when the new Commissioner passed his press conference debut with aplomb yesterday.
In the end it became a process of elimination. Nick Kaldas, decorated and effective a character as he is, was seen to have become too obsessed with the police bugging scandal and was accused of lying to the Ombudsman.
The intelligent Catherine Burn was seen as being at the centre of bugging police officers who should not have been bugged and was also named adversely in the Ombudsman’s report. And the thought of bringing in an outsider was too much for the government to stomach.
Fuller is no mug. His CV is impressive and he has fresh ideas on taking the force forward after 10 years with one man at the helm.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Fuller has laid out a vision for the force and signalled change and reform that may upset some, including moving cops around.
His suggestion he may disband Operation Talon will raise eyebrows amid a spate of shootings.
But Fuller has other ideas on working harder to stop the radicalisation of youth, so important for the future of Sydney, and how to beat the scourge of ice.
The key question now is who he will select as deputy commissioners and if he will opt for a clean slate and try to push out Burn.
His slogan “Community First” is a clear sign he wants police to focus on their job and not infighting.
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