Senior Sergeant Richard Moore is the new Officer in Charge at Mundijong Police Station, and the ex-Army Sergeant says Mundijong was his top pick, having spent much of his law enforcement career in regional postings.
“When I applied for the role, we were given a list of five or six locations and told to put them in order of preference,” Sr Sgt Moore said.
“I put Mundijong as my number one because of the semi-rural, country kind of community,” he said.
The veteran officer, who wanted to join the police force since he was 15, now has a law enforcement career spanning nearly 30 years, serving in locations across the state.
“I grew up in Perth and joined the Army at 17, back in 1981, and served for 14 years, living over east in Canberra, Melbourne and Darwin – the last three years I was in East Fremantle.
“I joined the Police in February of 1995, once I left the service,” he said.
Senior Sergeant Moore spent 10 years working in the Fremantle area, then in 2005 the call went out for regional postings and Moore and his then-wife responded.
“My wife at the time joined the police in 2001 and in 2005 we went to South Hedland. In 2006 I was promoted to Sergeant and spent two years as OIC at Port Hedland,” Sr Sgt Moore said.
The regional postings proved a drawcard for the officer, leading him to the Southwest District Office in Bunbury before moving to Esperance where the now Senior Sergeant was Officer in Charge.
The family moved back to Perth in January of 2018 to allow his daughter to attend high school in the capital.
“I enjoy the country lifestyle out here, the people in the community come from different backgrounds, it’s different to somewhere like Armadale,” he said.
“I went out with the rangers on Monday – I want to get out and meet people, I want the community to have confidence to talk to us and to report crime.
“If we get a complaint, I want people to know that we will be investigating, and if we suspect you of a crime, you will be getting a knock on the door,” he said.
Sr Sgt Moore said his top priorities were family violence, youth offences, the victimisation of vulnerable people, road trauma and emergency management support.
But this week he is looking forward to the ANZAC Day event in Serpentine.
In an ANZAC Day visit to a school in Esperance in years past, Sr Sgt Moore gave a presentation to the students about the iconic Australian slouch hat before gifting his to a student in attendance.
“I’ll be marching in the parade in Serpi on Monday – I’m ex-Army, so it has an impact.”
