SA Police Officer of the Year Award - 2019

This year South Australia Police and the Rotary Club of Unley celebrate 41 years of the award. Since its inception in 1978, the annual South Australia Police Officer of the Year Award has sought to highlight the service provided to our community by South Australia Police and recognises outstanding acts of courtesy, courage, kindness, understanding, compassion and devotion to duty by any member of South Australia Police.

For 2019 we received eight excellent nominations from across the state. The Rotary Club of Unley was delighted with the quality and strength of the nominations for all of the police officers.

The winner of the Rotary Club of Unley Police Officer of the Year for 2019 is Chief Inspector Matthew Nairn who has worked tirelessly providing leadership and support to the Eastern District and surrounding community.
Matt was nominated by Ms Jennifer West from the City of Adelaide who stated “Chief Inspector Matt Nairn is integral to the City of Adelaide’s connection and promotion of a safer city environment. The City of Adelaide involves Matt in a broad range of activities including; seeking advice and input on new developments and CCTV expansions, scanning trends and expected changes to the City in the future and building opportunities for engagement with community members, especially in Housing SA estates in the city. Matt is very responsive to emerging issues and works effectively as a partner to support safety planning, homelessness and all aspects of crime and crime prevention.

Matt is a professional with high levels of integrity and commitment to his role. He understands that building and maintaining community safety requires a whole of community approach with residents, visitors, businesses and all levels of government working together to support a safe and inclusive environment for all. He works hard to bring these stakeholders together while not shying away from the difficult conversations.