How our first woman police commissioner is turning the culture of the NSW police force on its head - in spite of her critics.
In the sitting room outside Karen Webb’s office, there is a wall lined with photographs of commissioners past.
Webb has been in the job less than a year; her style is yet to become clear. But hints are emerging. She listens. She prioritises about mental health . She is quietly spoken. She has a lower public profile than her predecessors, with less tough-talking to the press. “She’s brought a matriarchal element to it,” says Michael Kennedy, an associate professor of criminology at the University of New England and a former police officer.
This has given critics fuel to undermine her, even though Perrottet – who had a well-publicised equity problem in his own ranks – insisted gender had nothing to do with it. Webb herself says she ignores such “rubbish ... I certainly am not going to get caught up in the gossip and things because the job’s too important”.
Supporters say there is a steely interior behind the soft voice, and point to her decision to part ways with Fuller’s well-connected press adviser, formerexecutive producer Grant Williams, soon after she began. “She doesn’t need to rule with a big stick,” says Kennedy. “There’s been far too much of that. She’s not interested in mass rallies. She’s not interested in an environment where people don’t think.
Some felt the line was too blurred under Fuller. V’Landys invited him to sit on the NRL commission, a move blocked by Berejiklian amid concerns over the seemliness of a police boss having a paid side gig, even if that money was going to charity. Fuller was also investigated by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission after he left the job over his ownership of shares in a racehorse. The findings say Fuller should have formally declared his interest .
A looming poll always makes the politics of policing more fraught. So far, this has not been a law-and-order election, although as Webb points out, there’s still time . In December, she spoke out in favour of cashless gaming cards, a political hot potato that’s supported by Perrottet, the NSW Crime Commission and Unions NSW but not by Labor or clubs and pubs.
She has repeatedly backed officers in fiery press conferences about the spate of organised crime shootings in Sydney over the past few years, telling reporters that solving homicides isn’t a one-hour[Crime Scene Investigation] program, a message appreciated by the officers involved in the investigations.
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