King's Birthday Honour 2025: Police medal for St George Police Commander Superintendent Paul Dunstan

The Leader

Transcript

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.

07:23Yeah.

07:24Yeah.

07:25Yeah.

07:26Yeah.

07:27Yeah.

07:28Yeah.

07:29Yeah.

07:30Yeah.

07:31Yeah.

07:32Yeah.

07:33Yeah.

07:34Yeah.

07:42Yeah.

07:43Yeah.

07:45Yeah.

08:12You

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