Andrew Phillip Scipione, (born 31 March 1958) is a former police officer who served as

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

, succeeding Ken Moroney on 31 August 2007. He retired from the

on 31 March 2017. He was farewelled with a

guard of honour A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

and was marched out by 100 of his fellow officers. His replacement as commissioner was Mick Fuller.

Personal

Scipione was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, on 31 March 1958 to an Irish mother and an Italian father. He immigrated to Australia with his family as an infant. He attended Padstow North Public School in South-West Sydney and left his high-school, Sir Joseph Banks High School, at the age of 14 due to his father's death. His first job after he left school was as an electrician's apprentice in Revesby. Scipione is married to Joy, with whom he has three children. Their two sons, Ben and Jonathon, are

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

police officers, and their daughter Emma is a teacher. Scipione is a devout

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

who often speaks of his commitment to reducing alcohol fuelled-violence and domestic violence.

Career

Scipione joined the Australian Bureau of Customs in 1978 before moving to the

in 1980. He worked in a number of sections, including a secondment to the

National Crime Authority of Australia The National Crime Authority (NCA) was an Australian law enforcement agency established in 1984 and wound up on 31 December 2002. History The NCA was set up in 1984 in the wake of the Costigan Commission, which investigated tax evasion and or ...

in 1985, with

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...

detectives, the Special Gaming Squad,

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

City general duties. In 1992, Scipione became the Operations Controller of the Joint Technical Services Group (JTSG), in 1995 the Commander of the Special Technical Investigation Branch (STIB), in 1998 the Chief of Staff to then Police Commissioner Peter Ryan, in 2001 the Commander of Special Crime & Internal Affairs. Scipione was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 2002 having served as both the Deputy Commissioner Field Operations and Specialist Operations. Scipione holds a master's degree in Management from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

. He is a graduate of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

National Executive Institute (2004). He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a member of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

. He has an Honorary Doctorate from the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...

. Scipione played a crucial role as the head of the New South Wales Police Force for

APEC Australia 2007 APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007. Various meetings were held across Australia from January to August 2007, with the ev ...

leaders week held in Sydney and the World Youth Day 2008 held in Sydney during July 2008. In 2009, Scipione introduced the first official police

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, saying "Our officers have a great deal of respect for our chaplains, and what better way to build on that relationship than to share the gospel?" Scipione extended his term as commissioner at the request of Premier

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...

, and was expected to remain until July 2017. However, in February 2017 Scipione announced he would retire earlier. Scipione retired from the Police Force on 31 March 2017. On 30 March it was announced that Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller would replace him as NSW Police Commissioner.

Honours and awards

Scipione was awarded the National Medal on 8 November 1996, and the

Australian Police Medal The Australian Police Medal (APM) is awarded for distinguished service by a member of an Australian police force. The APM was introduced in 1986, and replaced the Imperial King’s Police Medal for Gallantry and King’s Police Medal, King’s Po ...

(APM) on 26 January 2003. In addition to awards under the Australian Honours and Awards framework, he also holds a range of internal New South Wales Police Force awards, namely: NSW Police Commissioners Commendation and bar, NSW Police Medal with 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th clasps; NSWPF Commissioners Unit Citation & star, NSWPF Commissioners Olympic Citation and NSWPF Commissioners Sesquicentenary Citation.

References

External links

Commissioner Andrew P Scipione APM
– Official profile on NSW Police website {{DEFAULTSORT:Scipione, Andrew 1958 births Living people Commissioners of the New South Wales Police People from Sydney British emigrants to Australia Fellows of the Australian Institute of Management Recipients of the Australian Police Medal Officers of the Order of Australia Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Italian descent Australian Baptists