Peter has given nearly 20 years of his life to serving communities in the UK and Australia. His policing career started in 2002 working for the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorist Unit Special Branch as a Civilian member of staff. A few years later as a Police Officer, Peter quickly found his passion within Investigations, Public Order and Emergency Management, whilst working in various specialist investigation units across West London. Peter’s passion saw him trained as a Public Order Medic and Public Order Commander, for which he received a Commendation for Bravery in 2011 for his work during the London Riots.
In 2014, Peter joined the WA Police Force working in various regional and metropolitan locations. Peter received the Police Commissioner’s Cross for Bravery in recognition of his Conspicuous Courage – on 10 January 2017, Peter placed himself at risk of significant personal injury or death when he pursued and captured an offender who had fled the scene of a homicide.
Peter was given the opportunity to work at Kintore Police Station in 2019; Australia’s most remote Police Station on the NT/WA Border. An experience never to be forgotten, living and working with Australia’s most remote indigenous community, learning new skills, and being afforded the opportunity to begin to understand.
Prior to leaving the WA Police Force in July 2021, Peter’s position was within the Digital Policing Division, managing various projects to assist officers on the frontline. This included starting a mobile application to improve fairness and equality to Aboriginal peoples during their interactions with police officers. The app, named ‘Yarning,’ provides spoken Aboriginal language interpretation of important information relating to rights in custody, COVID and youth messaging. This was a world first and was inspired by Peter’s time working in Kintore.
Peter’s experiences in both the UK and Australia as a first responder, combined with his recent transitioning from the government to the private sector, has allowed him to relay his story to many first responders across Australia. Peter helps by putting them in direct contact with Fortem Australia’s Transition and Employment Program. Peter understands first hand the stresses of not only being a first responder, but also the fear of leaving the government sector.