(1) The Commissioner of Police is to be appointed by the Governor on the
recommendation of the Minister.
(2) It does not matter whether the person
appointed is or is not already a member of the NSW Police Force.
(3) In
particular, it does not matter whether the person appointed is or is not a
police officer at the time of appointment.
(4) If it is proposed to make an
appointment to the office of Commissioner, the Minister is required to invite
applications for appointment to that office.
(5) However, the Minister is not
required to invite applications for appointment if the Minister proposes to
recommend the re-appointment of the person currently holding office as
Commissioner.
(6) It is the duty of the Minister, before recommending the
appointment of a person to the office of Commissioner--
(a) to make inquiries
(from the LECC, and the Commander, Professional Standards Command, and from
any other person or body the Minister considers appropriate) as to the
person's integrity, and
(b) to have regard to any information that comes to
the Minister's attention (whether as a result of inquiries under paragraph (a)
or otherwise) as to the person's integrity.
(7) The LECC, subject to the Law
Enforcement Conduct Commission Act 2016 , and the Commander, Professional
Standards Command, are required to furnish a report to the Minister (on the
basis of the information available to the Commission or the Commander and
without the need for any special investigation or inquiry) on the person the
subject of an inquiry referred to in subsection (6) (a).
(8) The Minister
must, before recommending the appointment of a person to the office of
Commissioner--
(a) require the person to provide a statutory declaration, in
such form (if any) as may be prescribed by the regulations, that the person
has not knowingly engaged in specified misconduct or any other misconduct, and
(b) have regard to the statutory declaration so provided.
(9) A person who
fails or refuses, or who is unable, to provide a statutory declaration in
accordance with a requirement made under subsection (8) is ineligible for
appointment to the office of Commissioner.
(10) The failure, refusal or
inability of a person to provide the statutory declaration must not be taken
into consideration for a purpose other than the assessment of the person's
eligibility to be appointed to the office of Commissioner.
