OFFICER-in-charge Jeff Taylor is a role model for cadet Karlee Barker, who took up her post with the Mundaring Police team two months ago.
For Sergeant Taylor (41), who also joined as a cadet, collected an Australian Police Medal (APM) at the Queen’s Birthday Honours awards in Government House on Friday last week.
He was recruited to the Police Academy in 1996 and stationed at several metropolitan locations before heading to Nannup Police Station in May 2004.
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READ NOWTwo years later, he was promoted to the officer-in-charge of Nannup Police Station before he transferred to Waroona Police Station as the OIC in 2010.
He was commended for work ethic and dedication to reducing offences in Waroona, where the crime rate is the lowest it has been in six years.
The citation written in his honour said he is known to lead by example and demonstrate high expectations in criminal investigations and traffic enforcement.
Sgt Taylor is known to engage well with the communities he represents through e-newsletters and social media, resulting in a large following.
Most notably, he was responsible for the initial response in a hostage situation and safe resolution of an incident in Bunbury in December 2015.
Appointed as the Police Forward Commander, he committed himself to a dangerous and volatile situation, helping co-ordinate a large-scale response resulting in the offender being apprehended and the safe release of the hostage.
When a bushfire threatened Waroona in January 2016 destroying the town of Yarloop, as the Local Emergency Co-ordinator he showed strong leadership to the community and played a pivotal role in keeping people safe.
He was one of 48 police officers to receive an award from the Governor of Western Australia, Kerry Sanderson, at the presentation ceremony.
The newest member of his team, cadet Barker, joined WA Police at the age of 17 through the first Aboriginal cadet program.
She has worked on a community engagement program for school leavers.
Sgt Taylor said crime in the Mundaring area was almost 25 per cent lower compared to the same period last year.
He attributed the high ‘solve rate’ at 56 per cent to working in a close-knit community that had a strong engagement with the local police officers.
Mundaring Police Station is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm and police officers work outside the office hours.
He said people could report a crime at any time by calling 131 444.
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