Veteran Australian law enforcement official chosen as new UN police chief

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced his intention to appoint Andrew Hughes, an Australian with over 30 years of experience in national law enforcement and United Nations peacekeeping, as the world body’s top police official.

Mr. Hughes has served in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for over three decades, most recently as the Interim Chief Police Officer of the Australian Capital Territory. Prior to that, he was posted to Fiji where he was responsible for overseeing an over 4,200-strong force and successfully led a major reform and modernization programme of the Fijian national police.

Mr. Hughes has also been at the forefront of Australia’s contribution to recent UN peacekeeping operations in East Timor and Cyprus.

When he takes up his duties as Police Advisor in the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in early September, Mr. Hughes will oversee almost 9,500 UN police officers worldwide.

He replaces Mark Kroeker of the United States, who left the post in April.