Last Thursday,Nine reported Gollschewski had emerged as her formal replacement after only he and former deputy commissioner-turned Youth Justice Department boss Bob Gee were interviewed.

Why it matters

The change comes at a testing time for the police force,which is still emerging from an inquiry highlightingdeep cultural problems in the organisation, and is managing asurge in domestic violence,as well as heated election-year debateabout youth justice. Meanwhile,workload and recruitmentpressures continue to bite.

Gollschewski himself has faced,and denied,accusations of racism emerging amid the inquiry.

Recent research found Queenslanders scored the service provided by the force onlysix out of 10. Despite overallfalling crime rates,heightened fear also remains among parts of the community.

What they said

From a policing family – his father and brother were both police officers – Gollschewski said he felt he had landed in the job because he was always one to put his hand up to help out.

“I’ve said already to my organisation,and more broadly,that our focus now among the many priorities we have is fairly simple:it’s to keep our communities safer and make sure that they feel safe,” he said.

Gollschewski named domestic violence as an “enormous challenge” for police,with more than 140,000 calls for service each year.

He also said a final model fora new police integrity unit to deal with complaints about the organisation was still “not yet decided”,despite the commission of inquiry calling for one within 18 months.

Miles said he and Gollschewski would visit locations in regional Queensland to introduce the new leader and speak with officers about their ideas for a community safety plan.