Quick Facts
Biography
Naguib "Nick" Kaldas APM (born 1958) was an Australian police officer who as of November 2014 is a former deputy commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. Though considered to be a possible future Commissioner, in March 2016 Kaldas announced his decision to leave the Police Force and now works for the United Nations.
Early life
Kaldas was born in Egypt in 1958 to Coptic Orthodox parents. The family emigrated to Australia in 1969.
Policing career
In 1981 Kaldas graduated from the New South Wales Police Force's academy. He worked for more than ten years as a hostage negotiator.
While the head of the New South Wales homicide squad, Kaldas was responsible for a number of high-profile murder investigations, including the death of Samantha Knight, the murder of John Newman and the investigation into the murders committed by Sef Gonzales.
In 2004 Kaldas spent eight months in Iraq where he trained the local police.
In March 2009 Kaldas was seconded to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating the 2005 assassination of Rafic Hariri. Kaldas chose not to renew his one-year contract in March 2010.
On 4 March 2016 Kaldas announced his decision to leave the Police Force. He was considered to be a possible future Police Commissioner.
There have been serious calls, notably by the NSW Opposition and crossbenchers, for Kaldas to be offered the job of NSW Commissioner of Police. This follows wide dissatisfaction with the current Commissioner Andrew Scipione and his protege Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn, particularly over the failures of the Lindt Cafe Siege.
Honours and awards
In 1997 Kaldas was awarded the National Medal. In 2008 he received the Australian Police Medal.[10][11]
 | Australian Police Medal (APM) | 2008 Queens Birthday Honours |
 | Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal | |
 | National Police Service Medal | |
 | National Medal & 1 Bars |
In addition to awards under the Australian Honours and Awards framework, he also holds a range of internal New South Wales Police Force awards, namely: NSW Police Commissioners Commendation and 3 clasps, NSW Police Medal with 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th clasps; NSWPF Commissioners Unit Citation & star, NSWPF Commissioners Olympic Citation and NSWPF Commissioners Sesquicenten±ary Citation.
Operation Prospect
In 2012 a controversy developed involving Kaldas and his fellow Special Operations Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn. This became known as Operation Prospect. The controversy raised concerns regarding the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW). An Ombudsman's report on Prospect was announced in October 2012, and was expected to be completed in six months. As of June 2015 the investigation was still ongoing, though the final hearings were completed on 31 March 2015. The report will be tabled in New South Wales Parliament at the first available opportunity.