Preceded by Mick Palmer Role Police officer Name Mick Keelty | Profession Police officer | |
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Born 13 July 1954 (age 70) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ( 1954-07-13 ) Books A Shared Responsibility: The Report of the Perth Hills Bushfire February 2011 Review | ||
Mick keelty before inquiry explaining findings into wa lost ballot papers
Michael Joseph "Mick" Keelty AO APM (born 13 July 1954), Australian police officer, was the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001 to 2009. Keelty became the inaugural Chairperson of the Australian Crime Commission in 2003.
Contents
- Mick keelty before inquiry explaining findings into wa lost ballot papers
- Top cop on Northern Basin Beat
- Policing career
- Career after policing
- References
Top cop on Northern Basin Beat
Policing career
Keelty joined the Australian Capital Territory Police in 1974, which was subsequently merged with the Commonwealth Police in 1979, to create the Australian Federal Police (AFP). During his policing career, Keelty had experience across organised crime and corruption whilst seconded to the National Crime Authority, intelligence, community policing, and drug operations. He became an Assistant Commissioner of the AFP in 1995 and Deputy Commissioner in 1998. Keelty was appointed Commissioner of Police of the Australian Federal Police on 2 April 2001 for an initial term of five years. At the time, aged 46, he was the youngest Commissioner and the first Commissioner appointed from within the ranks of the AFP.
As Commissioner, Keelty oversaw the expansion of the AFP following the terrorist attacks in the United States of America later that year and the bombings in Bali, Indonesia in 2002. The organisation quadrupled in size and budget in the eight-and-a-half years he served as Commissioner taking on new roles such as the International Deployment Group – a body of some 1,200 officers serving in Afghanistan, Timor Leste, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea and expanding the AFP's budget from A$370 million in 2001 to A$1.3 billion in 2009.
Major controversies in the AFP on his watch included the investigation of Muhamed Haneef, an Indian born doctor, on suspicion of involvement in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack that saw a protracted investigation and release without charge, with later substantial compensation for loss of income, interruption of his professional work, and emotional distress largely based on the actions of the AFP. Mick Keelty also oversaw the AFP's involvement in the Bali Nine where 9 Australians were known to be carrying drugs to Indonesia, where they were arrested, jailed with two executed. The AFP never advised if they notified the Indonesians, however said they were unable to arrest the nine before departure from Australia. He is unrepentant about the AFP's role in the Bali Nine saga.
Keelty retired on 2 September 2009, on the 35th anniversary of commencing as a police officer.
Career after policing
Since his retirement from the AFP, Keelty has become an Adjunct Professor at both the Australian National University and Charles Sturt University undertaking research into policy implications of social networking for covert operations by police and security agencies. He is a member of the International Advisory Board for the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Policing and Security and a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Council on Organised Crime.
In February 2011, Keelty was appointed by the WA Government to lead the independent inquiry into the Perth Hills Bushfires.
Keelty's academic qualifications include a Masters of Public Policy and Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice Education from the University of Virginia, USA; he is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.