Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers has been appointed to an Interpol job in France, while Assistant Commissioner Sue Schwalger is helping MFAT preparations for the CHOGM conference in Samoa. Photo / NZME
Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers has been appointed to an Interpol job in France, while Assistant Commissioner Sue Schwalger is helping MFAT preparations for the CHOGM conference in Samoa. Photo / NZME
Two of New Zealand’s most senior police officers - including one of the contenders to be the next police commissioner - have been appointed to prestigious roles overseas.
Sue Schwalger and Richard Chambers, both of assistant commissioner rank, have taken up new roles with the Ministryof Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and Interpol, respectively.
Best known as the lead detective on the Scott Guy murder inquiry in 2010, Schwalger was promoted to assistant commissioner in 2018; one of only three female officers to attain that rank at the time.
Until recently she was in charge of investigations nationwide, but is now working for MFAT to prepare for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Attended by the leaders and dignitaries of 56 countries, with all the subsequent logistical and security details to arrange, CHOGM is held every two years as the primary political gathering in the Commonwealth.
Samoa will become the first small Pacific Island nation to host the significant event in October.
New Zealand is providing assistance through MFAT with Schwalger, who holds the Samoan chiefly title of Lauano, appointed as the senior national officer for CHOGM in Apia.
Her departure on secondment comes as Chambers takes up a senior role at Interpol, the global network of police forces, based in France.
Most recently the assistant commissioner overseeing police districts across the North Island, Chambers was chosen ahead of international candidates to be Interpol’s director dealing with organised and emerging crime.
In an internal message in late December to announce the move, police staff were told that Chambers’ new role would have a “particular focus on criminal networks, illicit markets and vulnerable communities in countries throughout the world”.
The message said Chambers’ job would also complement the recently announced Interpol Blue Pacific project.
“This is a partnership between the Pacific Islands’ chiefs of police and Interpol which will see a significant uplift in Pacific Interpol capability and the deployment of Interpol tools to make the region a harder place for transnational and serious criminals to operate.”
Speaking from France, Chambers told the Herald he was excited to lead this “particular strategic and operational arm of the world’s largest international police agency”.
“I look forward to returning to New Zealand Police and applying the experience from my time with Interpol, plus drawing on international law enforcement networks, to help keep our country and people safe.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell, left, and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster have clashed in the past over policing philosophy.
A police spokesperson said the organisation was not in a position to yet announce who would fill the two vacancies.
And while Schwalger is anticipated to retire at the end of her secondment, the confirmation that Chambers plans to come back to New Zealand is significant.
Widely known among his peers to hold ambitions to become New Zealand’s top cop, Chambers has been overlooked for promotion in recent years, which has rankled his supporters on the frontline.
When then-incoming Police Minister Mark Mitchell was slow to express confidence in the incumbent Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, the Wellington rumour mill was quick to anoint Chambers as his replacement.
Instead, Mitchell took the unusual step in December of publicly releasing a letter of expectations for Coster to achieve.
“Commissioner, this letter outlines expectations that will require strong and decisive leadership of Police to overcome what are, in my view, significant challenges with regard to law and order in this country,” Mitchell wrote.
“It also presents a significant opportunity for you and me to work together to overcome these challenges and address my concern about a decline in public confidence.”
Against this wider background, it seems likely that the Government will want to choose a new police commissioner instead of extending Coster’s tenure in the top job.
His five-year term ends in April 2025, with the appointment process conducted by the Public Service Commission likely to start at the end of this year.
From the Interpol headquarters in France, Chambers will almost certainly throw his hat into the ring. Other contenders for the top job would include Jevon McSkimming and Tania Kura, who are both deputy commissioners in the current executive.
Jared Savage is an award-winning journalist who covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006, and is the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
