NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb reportedly about to resign
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb will leave the role within weeks, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley is due to confirm the resignation in state parliament on Wednesday, the outlet said.
Webb is said to be finishing up on May 18.
It comes after a three-year stint in the job, and only months after Webb dismissed claims she was gunning to retire early.
Webb's time as Commissioner has not been free from controversy.
She has been criticised over a number of statements, including her refusal to watch bodycam footage of a police officer tasering 95-year-old aged care home resident Clare Nowland, who died after the incident.
Webb was also accused of taking too long to front the public after former senior constable Beau Lamarre-Condon was charged with murdering Luke Davies and his boyfriend Jesse Baird.
She was also accused of using flippant language when she said the alleged murders were a 'crime of passion'.
The Commissioner even battled backlash over a Taylor Swift reference while fending off critics during an appearance on Sunrise.
'There will always be haters. Haters like to hate. Isn't that what Taylor says?' she said at the time.
Swift memes were circulating among police officers soon after, and Upper House MP Rod Roberts argued the pop star's lyrics should not have been used during such a serious investigation.
'I invite public scrutiny as it is an important part of being NSW Police Commissioner,' Webb said in August last year.
But she said some of the comments against her have gone too far, including claims made during an investigation into the purchase of bottles of gin.
Roberts alleged Webb used parliamentary privilege to gain free gin for herself and her staff to consume themselves.
The gin purchase, which Webb said was to be distributed as gifts or donated for charity purposes, was later found by the watchdog to have been in accordance with policies and procedures.
Webb said she had never tasted the Commissioner's Gin and said Roberts' comments were 'intended to damage my personal reputation'.
NSW Police would not comment on reports of Webb's resignation.
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