Andrew Phillip Scipione, (born 31 March 1958) is a former police officer who served as

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

, succeeding

Ken Moroney Kenneth Edward Moroney, (born 15 September 1945) is a former police officer who served as the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force from 2002 until 2007. Personal life Born in the inner-Sydney suburb of Glebe, New South Wales, Moron ...

on 31 August 2007. He retired from the

on 31 March 2017. He was farewelled with a

guard of honour A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

and was marched out by 100 of his fellow officers. His replacement as commissioner was

Mick Fuller Michael John Fuller, is a retired police officer who served as the 22nd Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. He replaced Andrew Scipione on 31 March 2017, when Scipione retired. In July 2021, Fuller announced that he would be leavi ...

Personal

Scipione was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, on 31 March 1958 to an Irish mother and an Italian father. He immigrated to Australia with his family as an infant. He attended Padstow North Public School in South-West Sydney and left his high-school, Sir Joseph Banks High School, at the age of 14 due to his father's death. His first job after he left school was as an electrician's apprentice in Revesby. Scipione is married to Joy, with whom he has three children. Their two sons, Ben and Jonathon, are

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

police officers, and their daughter Emma is a teacher. Scipione is a devout

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

who often speaks of his commitment to reducing alcohol fuelled-violence and domestic violence.

Career

Scipione joined the Australian Bureau of Customs in 1978 before moving to the

in 1980. He worked in a number of sections, including a secondment to the

National Crime Authority of Australia The National Crime Authority (NCA) was an Australian law enforcement agency established in 1984 and wound up on 31 December 2002. History The NCA was set up in 1984 in the wake of the Costigan Commission, which investigated tax evasion and orga ...

in 1985, with

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

detectives, the Special Gaming Squad,

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

City general duties. In 1992, Scipione became the Operations Controller of the Joint Technical Services Group (JTSG), in 1995 the Commander of the Special Technical Investigation Branch (STIB), in 1998 the Chief of Staff to then Police Commissioner Peter Ryan, in 2001 the Commander of Special Crime & Internal Affairs. Scipione was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 2002 having served as both the Deputy Commissioner Field Operations and Specialist Operations. Scipione holds a master's degree in Management from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

. He is a graduate of the

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National Executive Institute (2004). He is a Fellow of the

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and a member of the

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. He has an Honorary Doctorate from the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

. Scipione played a crucial role as the head of the New South Wales Police Force for

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leaders week held in Sydney and the

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held in Sydney during July 2008. In 2009, Scipione introduced the first official police

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, saying "Our officers have a great deal of respect for our chaplains, and what better way to build on that relationship than to share the gospel?" Scipione extended his term as commissioner at the request of Premier

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...

, and was expected to remain until July 2017. However, in February 2017 Scipione announced he would retire earlier. Scipione retired from the Police Force on 31 March 2017. On 30 March it was announced that Assistant Commissioner

would replace him as NSW Police Commissioner.

Honours and awards

Scipione was awarded the National Medal on 8 November 1996, and the

Australian Police Medal The Australian Police Medal (APM) is awarded for distinguished service by a member of an Australian police force. The APM was introduced in 1986, and replaced the Imperial Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry and Queen's Police Medal for Distinguis ...

(APM) on 26 January 2003. In addition to awards under the Australian Honours and Awards framework, he also holds a range of internal New South Wales Police Force awards, namely: NSW Police Commissioners Commendation and bar, NSW Police Medal with 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th clasps; NSWPF Commissioners Unit Citation & star, NSWPF Commissioners Olympic Citation and NSWPF Commissioners Sesquicentenary Citation.

References

External links

Commissioner Andrew P Scipione APM
– Official profile on NSW Police website {{DEFAULTSORT:Scipione, Andrew 1958 births Living people Commissioners of the New South Wales Police People from Sydney British emigrants to Australia Fellows of the Australian Institute of Management Recipients of the Australian Police Medal Officers of the Order of Australia Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Italian descent