Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced Katarina Carroll as the new Queensland Police Commissioner. The current Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner commences her new role in July. “This is a proud day for the Commissioner and for Queensland,” said the Premier. “She has worn the uniforms of two branches of our emergency services and stood by us in our toughest times, including Cyclones Debbie and Marcia not to mention the 2018 bushfires.”
Commissioner Carroll graduated from the police academy in 1983 and started her career on general duties before rising to detective and then leadership roles in the drug squad, Crime Operations and Ethical Standards. In 2007, she was made a Superintendent in the Far North Region, where she moved up as Chief Superintendent and then became Assistant Commissioner in 2010. At the end of 2014, she took a leadership role in planning and operations of the G20 Summit in Brisbane before taking the role of Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner.
Commissioner Carroll is Queensland’s 20th Police Commissioner and the first woman to fill the role in the service’s 159-year history. “The pride I felt the day I first pulled on that blue shirt has never left me,” she said. “To now lead this group of men and women is humbling.” The Commissioner paid tribute to the men and women of Queensland’s Fire and Emergency Services with whom she has worked for the past four and a half years.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said her selection came after an international search. “Commissioner Carroll has the respect and friendship of so many police around the state and for good reason,” said Minister Ryan. “She has served not just the people of Queensland but has also played vital roles in a number of national and international groups including the Australia and New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee for Command.” Commissioner Carroll replaces Commissioner Ian Stewart who retires in July.
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