Decorated police officer Kim Travers appointed as Great Southern Police District’s new superintendent

A former WA tactical group commander who served as a chief investigator under the United Nations in East Timor has been appointed as the Great Southern Police District’s new superintendent. Decorated senior police officer Kim Travers will replace former superintendent Ian Clarke, who spent almost four years as the region’s top cop and is now the chief executive of the Albany Youth Support Association. Supt Travers will start her new position later this year, after more than 32 years with WA Police. Born and raised in Merredin, Supt Travers joined the force in 1989 and has spent time in Perth, regional and rural postings. She was the first female officer to serve in Wiluna, facilitating alcohol restrictions in the 1990s that led to a drop in domestic violence and serious crime. In 2000, she became the first female police officer from WA to serve in East Timor, earning the United Nations Medal and the Police Overseas Service Medal. Her career also included a decade as a detective investigator, before promotions to detective-sergeant and officer-in-charge of Claremont detectives. Supt Travers was promoted to inspector in 2008, then assigned to the Tactical Response Group in 2014, spending more than a year providing leadership and management to elite tactical police units. As Police Tactical Group Commander, she was responsible for delivering a 24/7 Statewide specialist response capability for planned and unplanned high-risk incidents. She received the Australian Police Medal in January 2015 for her work in policing mental health, before she was promoted to superintendent in November that year. Ms Travers left the force to run as a Labor candidate for the Federal seat of Pearce at the 2019 Federal election. She lost the seat to Liberal candidate Christian Porter. Since rejoining the force, she has delivered a research and review report into online child exploitation. Supt Travers said she was looking forward to her new posting. “It will be my responsibility to gain a rapid appreciation of the current issues which exist in the Great Southern district,” she said. “I will spend a lot of time out of my office, visiting stations across the district and listening to community members and police to appreciate what matters. “The Great Southern district area holds significant cultural and spiritual bonds for the traditional owners, which I respect, and it is my plan to meet with the elders in the community as a priority to discuss what is important and foster good relations. “The expectation I have is for our police officers to be consistent in the interactions with the community, to exercise the values and behaviours of the WA Police Force.”