Katarina Carroll to be Queensland’s first female police commissioner
Katarina Carroll is the first female appointed commissioner in Qld Police’s 159-year history.
Incoming Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll – the first woman to take the role in the state - will be under pressure to fight for a bigger budget, more officers and greater technology for frontline police.
The appointment of Ms Carroll as the 20th police commissioner, announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Tuesday, was welcomed by the police union and Queensland Law Society.
Beating a high quality field of current and former deputy commissioners to the coveted role, Ms Carroll will return to the service as leader in July after a stint of just over four years as fire and emergency services commissioner.
Police union president Ian Leavers said he had a “good working relationship” with Ms Carroll as he outlined an early list of priorities for the new boss.
“Funding, police numbers and technology - those will all lead to increased morale and support of the troops on the ground,” Mr Leavers said.
“Police will be looking for a leader who will be actively out there and fighting for them and supporting them and assisting them.”
Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts welcomed “Queensland’s new Police Commissioner and the first female in its 159-year history”.
“We look forward to continuing our collegiate relationship with @QldPolice under her leadership from July onwards,” he said on Twitter.
Ms Carroll graduated from the police academy in 1983 and rose to become an assistant commissioner of police in 2010. Mr Leavers cited her local experience in the vast and unique state as a positive.
Men dominate the service’s senior ranks, with one woman among the three deputy commissioners and one woman among the 14 assistant commissioners. Mr Leavers said “gender should not come into it”.
“You’ve got to have a quality person in the job. Whether they’re male or female doesn’t matter to me,” he said.
“There’s certainly some people with more service than her and others with a great deal of experience, but clearly on the day she performed very well.”
Ms Carroll replaces Ian Stewart, who is retiring after almost 46 years in the service and more than six years as commissioner, and said the appointment was “humbling”.
She had been among the frontrunners, alongside deputies Bob Gee, Tracy Linford and Steve Gollschewski and former deputies Ross Barnett, Peter Martin and Brett Pointing.
Ms Palaszczuk said Ms Carroll had “stood by us in our toughest times, including Cyclones Debbie and Marcia not to mention the 2018 bushfires”.
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