Damjan Petrič, born in 1969, completed the Police Cadet School in 1988 and started his career at the Ljubljana Šiška Police Station, where he was a police officer and criminal police officer until 1997, when he enrolled as a full-time security studies student in the College of Police and Security Studies. In 2000 he became Assistant Commander of the Kamnik Police Station and in 2002 of the Domžale Police Station.

In 2005 he took up the post of a police inspector in the Director’s Service and later of a criminal police inspector in the Criminal Police Division of the Ljubljana Police Directorate, where he became the Head of Property Crime Group a year later. In 2008 he was promoted to senior criminal police inspector in the General Crime Section of the Criminal Police Division of the Ljubljana Police Directorate. In 2009 he became Assistant Head the Criminal Police Division, and in 2014 the Head of Criminal Police Division of the Ljubljana Police Directorate. In 2012 he acquired a master’s degree in law from the European Faculty of Law in Nova Gorica.

In March 2022 he was made Head of the Police Directorate under delegation from the Director General. During the War of Independence he was a group leader in the Specialised Police Unit of the Ljubljana Police and has the status of a war veteran. He is also the recipient of numerous police awards (a Letter of Commendation, a Bronze Badge, a Silver Shield, a Medal for Sacrifice, a Gold Shield and a Grand Bronze Shield with the Bronze Star).

On 18 July 2023 he took over as the Director of the Criminal Police Directorate of the General Police Directorate.