NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller to quit role in 2022
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has called time on his career but has told The Daily Telegraph there are a few conditions which would see him return.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller will leave his job as the state’s highest ranked police officer early next year — provided the state’s vaccination rates and Covid-19 situation have reached a stable outlook.
The recent Covid outbreak linked to the fast-moving Bondi cluster put his plans to announce his retirement last week on hold but he now is set to inform the Berejiklian government of his intention after his five-year tenure ends next April.
Mr Fuller, who had previously acted as first commander during Sydney’s Lindt Cafe siege, said it meant there would be ample time to find a replacement for the role he took on in March 2017, following the retirement of predecessor Andrew Scipione.
“I feel it will be time to move on after 34 years in policing,” he told the Telegraph exclusively.
It has been well known for months in NSW police force and government circles that the 53-year-old was unlikely to renew his contract but he has said he would consider staying on if the future situation with Covid-19 compelled him to.
He said the only reason he feels he has to signal his intention now is to allow the government to set a succession plan.
The comprehensive process of selecting a new commissioner involves advertising for candidates, interviews and probity checks.
“I feel there are very capable officers in the organisation who could take over now if I was run over by a bus,” he said.
Mr Fuller wanted to make it clear his decision was made well before the current Delta outbreak of the virus.
“But I feel in my heart that next year will be the right time to call time on my career. Will I regret it? Will I miss the role? Yes I will. But it’s not the sort of job you stay on for selfish reasons,’’ he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph last week.
“My wife and kids were equally supportive of me to stay on, but after more than three decades I really feel it’s time to move on.”
He said he was proud of the support his wife Andrea has given him and his teenage daughters Mia and Lara, as well as his two eldest children Brittany — who is also a cop — and Jacob, who works locally in the Shire.
Mr Fuller said during his discussions about his future over the past few months with Premier Gladys Berejiklian she made it clear he was welcome to stay on and likewise he indicated that he would do so if the situation warranted it.
“There are many capable people in the organisation who can take over. There are five terrific deputies and I certainly hope the role is filled internally.
“But I’m here till the last day, committed to work for the state and will work through the New Year’s Eve holiday period and beyond.’’
Police Minister David Elliott is understood to have spent months hoping Fuller would reverse his decision to step away from his role.
“Mick Fuller has led the NSW police force through a period of operational tempo not seen since the Second World War,” Mr Elliott said.
“As devastated as I am that he has decided not to renew his contract, I respect his decision.
“The government and people of NSW could not have asked more from any individual. He goes with my gratitude and best wishes.
“The process of appointing the next Commissioner of Police will commence later in the year.”
When Mr Fuller took over from Mr Scipione in 2017 the NSW’s police hierarchy was embroiled in a civil war, with an ugly public brawl between top deputies Nick Kaldas and Cath Burn playing out in parliamentary inquiry.
He unified the executive much quicker than many thought possible and immediately went to work putting his own mark on the job.
“It wasn't easy at times, although it feels easy looking back,” he said, when asked about his career of more than three decades.
“I loved every day, even some of the tough ones. I can remember my first day walking into Kogarah police station, in what was then called 12 division, and I can tell you being the police commissioner was not what I was thinking about then.
“I look back at the photo they took back as I walked out of the station. I looked like I was a 16-year-old kid.
“When you start a new job, particularly a challenging one like policing, you are just looking forward to surviving on that first day…’’
Out of all the challenges he faced on the job, Mr Fuller said the hardest task for him was dealing with the victims of crime.
They included Katrina Dawson, one of the two hostages left dead in the 2014 Lindt Siege launched by slain terrorist Man Monis.
“Whenever you have to face death it was always a challenge, particularly when dealing with the family left behind and dealing with those tragedies, including going through the criminal trials or coronial inquiries they also have to endure.
“I know there are people who, even after 30 years, their life was immeasurably impacted by the death of a son or daughter.
“I think every year as a police officer I faced something like that.
“I was the first commander when the Lindt Cafe (siege) occurred, and then meeting with Katrina Dawson’s family was certainly a huge challenge after I became Commissioner of Police.
“A brave young man in (fellow siege victim) Tori Johnson and an equally brave woman in Katrina Dawson, both very decent people, lost their lives in the first terrorist attack in Australia since the Hilton bombing.
“That whole episode will live with me and a lot of Australians. It put us on the world not in a great way and is etched in our psyche, but it is something we have moved on from and showed incredible resilience both as a community and as a organisation.”
FULLER’S LEGACY
“I think from a crime prevention perspective the things I really hope are seen as a legacy are my Commissioner’s Rise Up Program,” he said, referring to his strategy to get disengaged young people job opportunities.
He said the philosophy — which looks at long-term crime reduction by giving young people at risk hope and role models — is one he believed in strongly.
“It has diverted hundreds of young people from a life of crime and given them education and employment opportunities. Hopefully that will roll on long after I’m gone and we continue to give kids the opportunity that I had and certainly many others more fortunate had.’’
One of his first acts as Commissioner was also to reinvigorate the Police Citizen Youth Clubs’ role in the community.
“The achievements we have made through some philanthropic endeavours has been amazing with all businesses, big and small, embracing these programs.
“We have helped young people with a few black marks early in their life get some focus and self esteem. The community support speaks highly of the people of NSW,’’ he said.
Mr Fuller is also justly proud of his establishment of Regional Enforcement Squads, which are cells of police which operate at a local level to target specific crime, particularly drugs. But it is out in the bush where he feels this has had a major impact.
“One of the priorities for the government when I came into the position was the resources in regional NSW and the challenge for me was to make sure they had the same sort of crime fighting services that we have in metropolitan Sydney.
“The regional enforcement squads were something I set up some time before and was passionate about its rollout. Those squads are out there now doing an amazing jobs, finding the scourge of ice in regional areas and cocaine in metropolitan Sydney.
He said the start of the pandemic in 2020 forced him into a situation where he had to deliver some tough policy decisions — a development which he said “was in my eyes probably historic”.
“I certainly was immersed in a lot more political type issues that year than I had been in my previous 30-odd years in the police force.
“There is no escaping the Police Commissioner’s role is a high-profile one where at times you are at conflict with independents, and others running parliamentary inquiries, budget estimates and the like.
“You are continually out there trying to protect people of NSW by protecting police powers and justifying police activity. I think it is one of the great challenges of politics in policing — trying to protect police powers and police methodology to have a positive outcome on public safety.
“But I think the separation of powers still exist and there is enormous scrutiny on that and I think that is important. I certainly had a close working relationship with the Premier during Covid but that’s not the norm.
“You know I’ve had some tough days as constable and as a commissioner — I’ve loved every day.
“I’m a bit nervous about what's next to be honest but excited at the same time.
“I think optional disengagement policy will show that police have amazing skills and they are transferable to the private sector.”
Join the conversation
High-ranking paramedic preyed on teen girl in ambulance
A former high-ranking Sydney paramedic has been banned from the healthcare sector after he sexually touched a teenage girl, who had called him in a state of distress, in the back of an ambulance.
Read more
‘Everyone was crying’: Man allegedly kills friend in ‘tragic’ lesson
Witnesses have revealed the horrifying moment they saw a “lifeless” body surrounded by blood on a western Sydney driveway, following what has been described as a parking lesson gone wrong.
Read more