Commissioner Grant Stevens leaves service after 44 years

Beginning his career as a 17-year-old aspiring cadet on 7 January 1982, Commissioner Stevens will become the first SAPOL Commissioner to be appointed Governor of South Australia.

Commissioner Stevens is taking leave until 8 December when he will officially retire and will be sworn in as Governor on 9 December. Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams will be Acting Commissioner.

Commissioner Steven’s first shifts were spent on patrol in Para Hills, before postings to the Speed Detection Section, Adelaide Patrols and Elizabeth. He then moved from general duties into investigations serving with Elizabeth and Norwood Criminal Investigation Branches (CIB), moving later to the Drug Task Force.

In 1999 he was promoted to Senior Sergeant – skipping Sergeant rank – during the introduction of the intelligence-led policing initiative.

By 2001 he was promoted to Inspector and then Chief Inspector in the same year, taking command of Port Adelaide CIB.

One of the most significant chapters of the Commissioner’s operational career followed in 2003 when he was selected to establish and lead the Paedophile Task Force.

The task force examined historical allegations of child sexual abuse within the Anglican Church and helped shape SAPOL's response to some of the most complex and sensitive investigations in its history.

The experience would help prepare the Commissioner for increasingly senior leadership roles, seeing him appointed to Superintendent rank in 2004 and Assistant Commissioner rank in 2005.

After being appointed Deputy Commissioner on 1 October 2012, Commissioner Stevens became South Australia's 21st Commissioner of Police on 21 July 2015.

From bushfires and floods to the COVID-19 pandemic, Commissioner Stevens became one of the most recognisable public figures in South Australia.

As State Coordinator during COVID, the Commissioner oversaw the state's emergency response and made decisions that affected every South Australian.

On 9 December 2026 Grant Stevens will be sworn in as South Australia's 37th Governor. While his next chapter awaits at Government House, his legacy will remain in the people, the culture and the organisation he leaves behind.