Written by Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia
21:15 February 26, 2024, updated 23:38 February 26, 2024
The New South Wales Police Commissioner quoted Taylor Swift’s line “haters will hate” and criticized her leadership amid a storm of criticism over her approach to the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. He shrugged off the criticism.
Sunrise host Nat Barr shot Karen Webb on Tuesday after an active-duty police officer allegedly shot her ex-girlfriend and her new partner with a handgun.
Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, 28, is accused of murdering former Ten journalists Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, in Sydney on February 19. He is in prison.
Investigators say Lamarre-Condon’s crimes followed a months-long campaign of “predatory behavior” that culminated in the fatal double shooting.
Ms Webb confronted Mr Barr and co-host Matt Silvington after being accused of “hiding” during the week-long investigation.
“There’s always going to be haters,” she told the host, citing a Taylor Swift lyric. Haters love haters. Isn’t that what Taylor is saying? ”
“I have a job to do. It’s a big job. This is just one of many. In fact, there were seven murders last week. But this is, of course, a complicated issue. All we have to do now is find Jesse and Luke.
“You’ve been criticized for not coming out publicly on this issue. I didn’t actually hear from you until three days later,” Silvington said.
“Why did that happen?”
Ms Webb said: “It was very much a live investigation. The officer turned himself in on Friday. He was not charged and is scheduled to appear in court in the afternoon. Yesterday, I took the stand. I issued a statement on Sunday.
“I’ve gone out to other jobs. I have a large organization, running 22,000 employees on a $5 billion budget.
“The great thing about being a commissioner and a leader is that you have great people around you,” Webb continued.
“I have great management. I have a great team. And they all have a role to play. I let them do their job, and they did well. ”
But Mr. Barr was not impressed with her answer.
“Chief, that’s leadership. You said you were a leader. And no matter how busy you are, there are police officers who are allegedly involved in this case.
“Do you have a crime that has shaken this country, especially this city, and you need three days to tell it?” Come on. ‘
“The investigation is still ongoing and very complex,” the police chief fired back.
Mr. Barr continued to criticize Mr. Webb, asking whether he should have spoken publicly sooner.
“There’s no need to convict anyone. To stand there and talk and be human, was it a mistake not to do that?” she continued.
“What I did on Sunday was talk to Jesse’s family,” Webb said. Luke’s family was told what I did yesterday.
“We want you to know that we are doing everything we can to find Jesse and Luke.”
Barr asked the secretary if he had a message for his critics.
“As I said, the haters are going to hate me. I have the confidence of the Minister and the Prime Minister and I have a job to do. And really, as I said, I have a job to do. The thing is…this is really about these families. It’s not just family, friends, and the gay community who are wondering what happened here.
“And that’s my job: to make sure that the investigators in the Homicide Squad, the detectives who lead this, have answers.” We’re all looking for answers. ”
This came after Mr. Webb, who is paid a salary of $679,050, was criticized for standing idly during a press conference regarding the double murder charges on Monday.
While Deputy Chief Dave Hudson fielded questions about the investigation for more than 30 minutes, Webb only spoke for 12 minutes, mostly answering questions about his delay in speaking publicly about the case.
She told reporters that questions about her leadership were “offensive.”
Ms Webb was also forced to apologize for labeling the double murder charge a “crime of passion”, saying she had not meant to offend anyone.
“We certainly didn’t intend to offend anyone… It wasn’t a crime motivated by homosexual hatred, but let me be clear, it’s clear and we believe it was domestic violence, “We allege stalking and definitely murder,” she said.
Similar accusations were made in May last year after the commissioner said it was “unnecessary” to view body camera footage of 95-year-old Claire Nowland being Tasered by a police officer in a nursing home. It was thrown at the chief.
Police are still searching for the bodies of Mr Davis and Mr Baird as multiple crime scenes have been set up in Sydney and north and south of the city.
Deputy Hudson said on Monday that a triple-zero call from Mr Baird’s mobile phone went off minutes after the gunshots were heard.
He suggested that some of Mr Lamarr-Condon’s behavior in the weeks following his separation from Mr Baird could be described as “predatory behavior”.
Police believe their relationship “came to a disastrous end,” although no such behavior was officially reported at the time.
“We believe the defendant attended a speech at Jesse’s home,” Hudson said.
“We believe he used the keys to gain access to those premises. We believe you have deleted the message.”