Brad Warburton joins Auror as Law Enforcement Partnerships Director - Australia

With nearly three decades of law enforcement experience serving some of the most unique environments in the world, Brad Warburton has joined Auror to lead law enforcement partnerships in Australia.

We recently spoke to Brad about his experience and why he’s dedicating this new season of his career to addressing Organized Retail Crime (ORC).

Why Auror? Why now? 

Serving the community for almost 30 years has given me so many experiences that show me the good and bad parts of society and the world. When I discovered Auror, I could see how much it aligned with my values, the company's culture and the massive potential to continue to help the community from a different perspective. Having a family definitely changes your views on life. Teaching our kids through action to always be open to opportunities is so important, and when this opportunity was presented, I grabbed it with both hands.

Speaking of that experience, can you talk about your career journey before Auror? 

After graduating high school, the world was my oyster; why I chose to become a police officer was as simple as wanting to help others and be part of a police force that polices the largest jurisdiction in the world. As a young officer, I thrived on catching criminals and meeting so many interesting people. It was not long before I decided to truly experience our great State and serve in some of the remotest parts of Australia, dealing with complex and challenging societal issues. These experiences led me to become a detective, work with dedicated people, and solve many investigations that significantly impacted individuals and communities.

Moving through the ranks then allowed me to be the Officer in Charge of Fremantle Police Station, lead a fantastic group, and work with a vibrant community to police the second largest entertainment precinct in Western Australia; it is here I discovered Auror.

The COVID pandemic changed everyone's lives and challenged the norm of policing. It was not long before I was working in the epicenter of our pandemic response and was challenged to be part of the leadership group that navigated our team through the pandemic, create the strategy, structures and systems to safely move over 1,000,000 people into our State and remain COVID-free for over two years. The COVID experiences afforded opportunities, built relationships, and created a skillset that led me to lead a team that identifies, develops, and operationalises significant capabilities for WA Police within our State Command Center that is undoubtedly one of the leading real-time crime centers globally. And this is where my new chapter begins; Auror was rediscovered and identified as a platform that has scaled significantly to become a world-leading crime intelligence platform that could meet the strategic, tactical, and operational needs of any law enforcement agency.

What was the hardest part of working in law enforcement? Most rewarding? 

The hardest part was understanding what could be done but not being able to achieve the desired outcomes because of limiting factors such as resources and bureaucracy.

The most rewarding thing is being in a position to help people, working with dedicated law enforcement colleagues who run towards the danger when others are running away.

Law enforcement is a key part of society that can make a difference, however small, and demonstrates kindness and care for people in need.

Can you speak to how ORC is viewed and addressed on the law enforcement side? 

The value and personal impacts of retail crimes are not known when reported as single events. Law enforcement has limited resources and finite funding and must deal with competing priorities; this is where the reality of ORC is not understood. 

Auror has the power to change how ORC is viewed and addressed on so many levels and offer significant public value to law enforcement. 

Providing a platform for retailers to report crime and maximise the data network effect. Applying the impressive analytical intelligence capabilities to group the evidence of single events, identify high-harm offenders and provide a significant opportunity for law enforcement to reduce resources to solve more crimes within our community. 

The cost-benefit for LP and law enforcement is the value proposition that differentiates Auror.

What excites you about Auror's Retail Crime Intelligence platform?

The already realised potential, innovation to find solutions, and many opportunities to scale the platform to meet the ever-changing demands of LP and law enforcement.

What's Brad doing for fun outside of work? 

I enjoy time with the family, basketball, camping, and exercising with our Border Collie (who looks like an Australian Kelpie) who loves to run and chase the ball in any weather, especially torrential rain.

Any fun facts most people don't know about?

Started geocaching years ago and always looks for caches in every part of the world I travel!

Brad joins Auror at a pivotal moment in our community. Along with a rise in retail violence, there are reported concerns about police response and investigations of these incidents.

We recently wrote about this and more: Addressing retail violence & ORC around the world.