Veteran police officer Superintendent Paul Coombes takes reins in Great Southern district

The Great Southern has a new top cop with veteran police officer Paul Coombes taking the reins as superintendent. Supt Coombs, who comes to the region after a stint in internal affairs, said he was pleased to be offered the position in the Great Southern. “When I got offered the opportunity I quickly accepted the position and I look forward to hopefully spending two to three years here,” he said. Supt Coombes will reach 40 years of service with WA Police in November, with 17 of those years spent as a superintendent. “Previous to this position I just completed three years at internal affairs, and prior to that four years in the Pilbara in charge of the Pilbara district,” Supt Coombes said. Supt Coombes said community would be one of his key focuses in the Great Southern, in addition to the policing priorities of family violence, serious crime, personal crime and youth crime. “I want to ensure that the communities of the Great Southern are safe and secure and getting the best possible service that we can provide,” he said. He will be based in Albany, the nerve centre of the Great Southern Police District. “It’s a great city, obviously very picturesque, everything’s been good so far,” Supt Coombes said. “I’m still in the process of getting to know the district and my people here. “We have 24 police stations, two detective offices and a traffic office, so I’m in the process of getting around to each and every one of those and building a good team that will service the communities of the Great Southern.” The Great Southern Police District covers a vast expanse of southern WA, from Walpole to Hopetoun and north to Corrigin. “We will aim to improve and increase our policing services to serve the community as best we can. We do that by building good teams,” Supt Coombes said.