Top cop's emotional message to Cleo Smith
Western Australia's police commissioner Chris Dawson has shared an emotional message for Cleo Smith as he prepares to step back from the top job.
Commissioner Dawson was in charge of the operation last October, after four-year-old Cleo was abducted from a campsite near her hometown of Carnarvon.
18 gruelling days after her disappearance, she was found alive and unharmed in the home of her kidnapper.
Speaking with Sunrise, Commissioner Dawson recalled how the incredible operation that captivated the world left its mark on him.
“When a little four-year-old has just disappeared from the family tent in the middle of the night, of course, everyone was fearing the worst,” he said.
“It was an emergency call that our officers received in Carnarvon - to put that into context, it's about as far as from Melbourne to Sydney."
"It was right near a rough patch of sea, a remote area, it was a very, very difficult search. We weren't sure what we were encountering."
The frantic search for Cleo ran alongside an intensive criminal investigation, but Dawson said his team did not crack under pressure.
“I stand on the shoulders of a great team,” he said.
“Of course, there’s pressure... when we had no sign of little Cleo after 17 days.”
But on the 18th day, they received information that changed everything.
“After a really comprehensive and complex search, we started to get some information and intelligence and I got a phone call several hours before she was found and that was quite dramatic,” he said.
Commissioner Dawson said he had the privilege of meeting the “sweet young girl” and her parents last year and he hopes they are able to put the terrifying ordeal behind them as a family.
“My hope is she will grow up without fear, she will grow up in the loving family she is with,” he said.
“We all want that. This was a horrible time which has now been put in the past."
“The person who has abducted her from that tent has pleaded guilty and is in custody."
“We would want for Cleo what we want for all of our children, to be able to live safely securely with family.”
Image credits: Sunrise / WA Police