By Laura Michell
Helping families be safe and ensuring our vulnerable and our children feel safe, is top of the agenda for new Fawkner Divisional Commander, Superintendent Peter Lardner.
Superintendent Lardner took on the role of Divisional Commander eight weeks ago, covering Hume, Moreland and Moonee Valley.
He joined Victoria Police 33 years ago and has been a superintendent since 2008. At that rank he has led two internal investigation Taskforces and Victoria Police’s Civil Law Division, as well as being the Divisional Commander for Stonnington and Port Phillip.
Superintendent Lardner, who was awarded the Australian Policing Medal in 2019, has also worked as a detective in a number of crime command areas including the Child Exploitation Squad, Arson Squad and a homicide Taskforce. He was also a sergeant at Broadmeadows Police Station for a number of years.
Superintendent Lardner said he has always had a strong focus on supporting young people.
“In my early career, I was a senior detective at the Child Exploitation Squad. Through that experience, I developed a deep appreciation for the complex challenges some children face as they are growing up. Life does not start easy for everyone and the scars of a difficult childhood can be a lifelong burden. I am passionate about supporting families so that children can grow up in a nurturing environment where they are loved and protected” he said.
Superintendent Lardner said it was important to him that police maintained their significant commitment to addressing family violence through direct intervention at critical points and importantly through working closely with other agencies to ensure long term support existed.
He said it was also important that families felt confident to go about their daily activities without being subject to harm by others.
“Young people and those who are vulnerable should be able to walk our streets and play in our playgrounds, not only being safe but feeling safe.”
“I take a personal interest in every matter where groups of people target and cause harm to our vulnerable and young people. We will continue to target such offenders and do all that we can to hold them to account.”
Another key focus for Superintendent Lardner is encouraging young people to engage with police to ensure they do not feel scared when they come into contact with officers.
“I want our police and our youth to be engaged in a really positive way,” he said.
“I want our youth to feel comfortable to approach police, have discussions with police and share a sense of community with police.”
He also wants to ensure young people who contribute positively to the community are celebrated.
“I think in the community more broadly there are often negative perceptions of all youth… it is so far from reality. The reality is that there are many great kids doing amazing things.”
