Karen Leanne Webb, () is an Australian police officer, who replaced

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 ...

as the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force in February 2022. Webb is the first woman appointed to this office.

Early life and career

Webb was born and raised in

Boorowa Boorowa () is a farming village in the Hilltops Council, Hilltops Region in the South West Slopes, south west slopes of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in a valley southwest of Sydney around above sea-level. The town is in Hilltop ...

in the

south western slopes The South Western Slopes, also known as the South West Slopes, is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range, extending from north of Dunedoo through central NSW and into ...

of New South Wales, and attended Boorowa Central School. Webb joined NSW Police in 1987 and previously was responsible for traffic and highway patrol and public transport. She joined the Castle Hill Police Station, in the 1990s at a time when 10% of police officers were women, and grew to 35% as at 2021. She later stated in 2021 that she "look forward to growing our diversity and inclusion in the organisation". Webb was the first woman to lead Traffic and Highway Patrol, since 2020. She was promoted in 2017 to assistant commissioner, and subsequently moved to deputy commissioner in July 2021. She has been a Board Member of

NSW Police Legacy NSW Police Legacy is a charitable organisation that was established in 1987 to care for the widows, widowers, partners and children of deceased members of the NSW Police Force. The charity was originally established with assistance from the NSW Pr ...

since 2018, and Vice-Patron since 2022. On 1 February 2022, Webb was formally appointed as Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. Previous police commissioner ceremonies were traditionally held at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

in Sydney, but Webb chose to accept her appointment in her alma mater at Boorowa Central School.

Honours and achievements

Webb was awarded 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 ...

in the

2015 Australia Day Honours The 2015 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 2015 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Karen Living people Australian police officers Recipients of the Australian Police Medal Year of birth missing (living people)