Murray Neil Comrie AO,

APM APM, apm, or Apm may refer to: Technology Computer technology * Active policy management, a discipline within enterprise software *Advanced Power Management, a legacy technology in personal computers * Apple Partition Map, computer disk partit ...

(born 10 March 1947 in

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

), known as Neil Comrie, is a former Australian police officer. He was Chief Commissioner of

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victoria Police had over 22,300 staff, comprising over 16,700 ...

from 1993 to 2001.

Police career

Neil Comrie joined Victoria Police in 1967, continuing a family line of Victorian police officers including his father and grandfather. Working his way through the ranks, he succeeded in attaining several high-ranking positions in the Queensland Police Force. In 1980 Neil studied at the State College of Victoria at Coburg (which later became part of

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering cla ...

) to complete an Associate Diploma in Criminal Justice Administration. Later he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Police Studies) degree at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn P ...

. He was appointed Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police in 1993, succeeding Commissioner

Kel Glare Kelvin Glare (born 6 January 1938 in Hopetoun, Victoria) is a former Australian police officer, who was Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police from 1987 to 1992. After he retired Glare was employed by Argyle Diamonds to look into the case of ...

. In May 2000, Comrie considered resigning after facing political pressure from police minister

Andre Haermeyer Andre Haermeyer (born 20 February 1956, in Oberhausen, West Germany) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor Party member for Kororoit in the Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house ...

to appoint assistant commissioner Noel Ashby to the vacant position of deputy commissioner, over Comrie's preferred candidate Peter Nancarrow. In December, Comrie announced his retirement from Victoria Police, two years before the end of his contract. Ashby and Nancarrow were considered, but a panel consisting of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Steve Bracks Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 199 ...

, Haermeyer and

Lynne Kosky Lynne Janice Kosky (2 September 1958 – 4 December 2014) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Government of Victoria. She represented the electoral district of Altona in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Part ...

eventually unanimously selected

Christine Nixon Christine Nixon (born 11 June 1953) is an Australian former police officer who was the chief commissioner of Victoria Police from 23 April 2001 to 27 February 2009, being the first female chief commissioner in any Australian state police force. ...

as his successor.

Post-police career

In 2005, Comrie was appointed by the Commonwealth Ombudsman to investigate and report on the unlawful deportation of Australian citizen Vivian Solon to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. His report, "Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Vivian Alvarez Matter" was released in October, and was critical of the "catastrophic" handling of the case by the

Department of Immigration The Department of Immigration was an Australian government department that existed between July 1945 and June 1974. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Adminis ...

. In 2008 Comrie undertook a confidential review which identified "unacceptable risks" within the prison system due to an inability to process intelligence about threats to gangland prisoners. Although the head of the Justice Department, Penny Armytage, was "very concerned", by the 2010 prison death of Carl Williams only some of the 32 recommendations had been implemented. In November 2009, Premier

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier a ...

announced that Comrie would be appointed to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the

Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. ...

. Comrie was appointed President of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade board on 30 June 2010. He held this post until December 2014 before resigning and being replaced by Andi Diamond.

Honours

Australian_Defence_Medal_(Australia)_ribbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comrie, Neil 1947 births Living people Chief Commissioners of Victoria Police Police officers from Melbourne Officers of the Order of Australia RMIT University alumni Deakin University alumni Recipients of the Australian Police Medal People from Ballarat Australian recipients of the Queen's Police Medal