King's Birthday Honour 2025: Police medal for St George Police Commander Superintendent Paul Dunstan
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00:00Yes, Superintendent Paul Dunstan. I'm the commander at St George Police Area Command.
00:04So when did you want to become a police officer?
00:0730 odd years ago I joined the police force. I was a child from a country town in central
00:13western New South Wales. It's the only thing I ever wanted to do. It's the only occupation
00:18I had in mind and I sort of outlived it.
00:22And what is your current role?
00:25I'm the commander of the St George Police Area Command. I've been here for a little over 12 months.
00:31And what does that sort of involve day to day?
00:33Day to day, it's a really unique role. It's an opportunity to not only work with the community
00:39and make a bit of a difference there, but also with a really young, dynamic police force
00:44and trying to improve culture and make them provide the best service to the community that
00:49they can do as well.
00:50And do you always want to work your way up to becoming a superintendent?
00:53Oh, these things happen organically, I think. You just work hard, you do your best, hope
00:59you get noticed, apply for the job. So, yeah, aim high and see how it goes. But I never, never,
01:04ever thought I'd get to this rank.
01:06And can you, you've obviously had a very varied career. Can you sort of just go through a couple
01:11of the sort of commands and roles that you've been involved in over those 30 years?
01:15Yeah, I started in Western Sydney in 1994 at Liverpool. I was in Liverpool, Campbelltown,
01:22Macquarie Fields area. Became an inner city detective shortly after and around Surry Hills,
01:28where I was for a while. Worked in the Waverley Police Station. Then I got promoted to inspector
01:34at Rose Bay. Worked at King's Cross from there into the city. Was promoted to superintendent
01:39as the operations manager in the central metropolitan region, which is virtually the inner city of
01:44Sydney. And here I am today at the Southern George Police area, Cervanda.
01:49And what are some of your, I guess, most memorable cases that you've worked on, say, in the last
01:55five or ten years?
01:57Yeah, it's interesting. In my roles at the city, I was highly involved in the protest,
02:03the policing of protest in the CBD. So, you know, I worked through the Black Lives Matter
02:08protest campaign. I was involved in a worldwide rally for freedoms, which were pretty big events
02:14in and around the CBD. So I got known as a protest guy there for a little while. But also in the city,
02:20I was involved in the Merton A stabbing, the famous milk crate job in the CBD. I was highly
02:25involved in that. But, yeah, that's some of the jobs I've done over the past, in the recent,
02:30you know, five or ten years of my career.
02:32And what's the sort of role, what was your role during those incidents? Like, were you on the ground
02:38or were you more from that managerial point of view?
02:41Yeah, in the managerial space. I was an inspector in those days for the Merton A job in the CBD.
02:45You're there, you know, in that leadership role, helping the detectives, helping the general
02:51duties police that respond to the job and trying to make their job as easily as, you know,
02:55the best, easy as possible or smooth as possible.
02:57And what's it sort of like being the one that has to make those decisions? Do you feel that
03:03pressure or is it something that I guess you've been training for and working up towards your
03:08entire career?
03:09Yeah, in that sort of highly stressful environment, our training really does kick in as police officers.
03:14They're the moments you live for and then you rely on your training, you get the job done
03:19and it's really rewarding to see, you know, all the pieces of the puzzle come together
03:23under a highly stressful environment.
03:26And what do you enjoy about working at St George in particular?
03:32Yeah, I really love this job in that we've got a real opportunity to connect and improve
03:37the lives of the residents of the St George area.
03:39We're highly involved with the community, whether it's the Chinese community and around the
03:44Hurstville area or the emerging communities where a large Nepalese or Mongolian community
03:49that don't really have great relationships with police in their home countries.
03:54So an opportunity to engage with them and make a difference and serve the community.
03:58But as I mentioned before, we've got a really young police force here.
04:01So an opportunity to educate and train and really improve the culture so that they can give
04:06the best level of service to our local community.
04:09It's a fantastic role, which I really enjoy.
04:11And what are the goals that you are hoping to achieve in St George's Mass?
04:17Yeah, well, locally, you know, our biggest challenge is domestic violence.
04:20So we're really working hard internally and with all the emerging cultures and community
04:26groups.
04:27Domestic violence is not something that we can solve alone as a police force.
04:32There's many, many community groups in this area that's doing fantastic work.
04:35We're trying to sort of web them all together so we can fight a united front, whether it's
04:40council, whether it's the Women's and Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service that are co-located
04:45within this building.
04:46That's a real priority for us.
04:48You know, I've got a phrase here, it's crime, community and culture.
04:52You know, if we can get the culture right then and we can help improve the community and
04:55we can respond to crime.
04:57So we've got a really strong role as community role models in St George's area.
05:01And what has been your favourite role or place to work as a police officer and why?
05:09I really loved my previous role as the operations manager in the Central Metropolitan Region.
05:16You know, any major incident in and around the CBD, the eastern suburbs, the inner west, I was
05:22sort of in the background, you know, helping steer those investigations, making sure the police
05:27were provided with all the resources required and it was a really challenging but really
05:32rewarding role and that was something that I've looked back on with really fond memories.
05:36We worked with a great team, worked with all the commands but also I really love this role
05:41because we can really make a difference.
05:42You know, as a police officer you're a small piece of a puzzle here but here you're able
05:47to really change the culture of a police station, engage with the community.
05:51So that's really excites me and I love that role as well.
05:55And what are you sort of most proud of in your career?
05:58What would you say is like one of your greatest achievements?
06:01You know, you look back 31 years in the police, started as a young constable in southwestern
06:06Sydney and you progress through the ranks, ranks which I never thought I'd make and just
06:12fondly the whole development of myself but also the development of the staff that I've
06:16worked around with.
06:17We work with some great people in this organisation and an opportunity to, you know, improve those
06:25around you but also improve the community that we work with.
06:27You know, some of my more memorable moments as a police officer is where you've impacted
06:31on the lives of others.
06:33You know, in my days at Rose Bay up at the Gap where sadly horrible things happened, there's
06:39obviously members of the community that are left behind when that occurs and just to be
06:43able to lend some support and help, those are the real matters that, you know, come to the
06:48forefront of my mind when I reflect on my policing days.
06:51It's about helping.
06:52That's why we joined a health care community and as police officers we play a really big
06:57role in the community and make a difference and they're the moments that I look back on
07:02most fondly.
07:03And congratulations.
07:04You're obviously going to be awarded with the Australian Police Medal, one of the greatest
07:10honours I guess you can be awarded as a police officer.
07:12How does it feel to be recognised?
07:13Yeah, it's quite an extraordinary achievement.
07:14It's something you never aim for.
07:15You know, you don't self-nominate for this.
07:16Your peers nominate you.
07:17All you can do is work hard, do your job.
07:18Obviously, I've been recognised and that's a very humbling, humbling experience.
07:19It's something that I'm extremely proud of.
07:20Yeah.
07:21Anything else for you?
07:22Yeah.
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08:12You