A pair of winners has been announced for the Suncorp police scholarship.

The award will see detective inspector Peter Brewer and acting detective sergeant Dale Caulfield receive a $20,000 grant to research best-practice techniques to investigate and prosecute financial crime and fraud more effectively and efficiently.

Currently, the damage caused by insurance fraud and financial crime is pegged at $6bn annually in Australia and research conducted by the pair of detectives is designed to counter a rising problem.

“Financial crime, cyber fraud and identity theft have a wide-reaching impact on the community. Anyone of us can be targeted by fraudsters and forced into financial distress,” Suncorp chief risk officer, Fiona Thompson, said.
“The research that Inspector Brewer and Acting Sergeant Caulfield will undertake promises to make a huge difference to the way we counter major financial fraud in Queensland.”

The pair of winners will also travel on a study tour to the New Zealand Serious Fraud Office in Auckland, the Los Angeles Security Exchange and the Serious Fraud Office in London as part of the scholarship.

Queensland Police commissioner, Ian Stewart, who presented the award alongside Thompson, said that the work of Brewer and Caulfield will provide an opportunity to understand financial crime and insurance fraud and give “momentum to new investigative approaches and disruption strategies”.

Now in its fourth year, the scholarship provides the Queensland Police Service with opportunities to undertake professional development with a focus on crime prevention, road safety or disaster management preparedness, response and recovery.


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