Retiring Superintendent Ian Clarke reflects on decorated police career that spanned four decades

After a decorated career spanning four decades and almost every corner of the State, Great Southern Police Supt Ian Clarke has decided to start a new chapter in the city he loves. Supt Clarke has been the region’s top cop since 2018, but earlier this week he was announced as the Albany Youth Support Association’s new chief executive, with his time as a police officer to end on April 12. This week, he reflected on a long and fulfilling career, a large part of which has been spent in regional WA. Supt Clarke said there had been plenty of highs and some very challenging times working across different departments, operations and task forces. “I spent a lot of time in the country, worked in every part of WA, pretty much,” he said. “Police provide you with the opportunity to go to a lot of places that most people never get to go to, really remote locations, and you meet people from Aboriginal communities who bring an entirely different perspective to things. “At the same time, I had the opportunity to work in serious and organised crime, and specialist units. “There used to be a 79 Division — I spent about five years there and that was a particular highlight of my career. “It was a 24-hour serious crime response unit back in the early 1990s and we had a lot of very, very challenging tasks, but I also had opportunity to work with some really great people.” Supt Clarke said his love of the Great Southern was a key factor in the decision to start a new chapter outside of the police force in Albany with his wife and family. “My family has travelled all over WA and they’ve had a pretty tough time of it,” he said. “The decision was a fairly easy one in some ways. This is an amazing community down here and we are very fortunate to live here. “It’s a new chapter and there are some really difficult challenges ahead, but bringing people together and working with a common goal, I think we can achieve some great things for this community.” Supt Clarke said he was particularly proud of his work to make the South West Leavers festival safer. “That made a massive change, not only to the community but the young people coming down,” he said. “Another thing I’m proud of is the work that had already been started around limited alcohol supplies in Wiluna — the immediate change in the community and understanding how significantly that substance abuse damages people.” In his time in the Great Southern, he said an increased focus on working with youth — including placing a dedicated youth officer in the northern sector of the district — had seen benefits. He will continue to work with at-risk youth in his new role with AYSA. As he prepares to step away from the police force, he said family violence was the biggest challenge facing the Great Southern. “Going into this new role, that will be a big focus of mine, to do what we can to support young people in this situation,” he said. “Early intervention for me is so important. The more we do around it the greater our chance of diverting it and reducing that risk of offending.”