Chief Officers
Chief Officers Biographies:
Mr Tony Melville, Chief Constable
Mr Tony Melville was appointed the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary in January 2010. He had previously been appointed the Deputy Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in January 2007. He had worked with the Constabulary since 2003 as an Assistant Chief Constable.
During his time as Deputy Chief Constable he led the work returning 200 police officers to uniform front line duties, and significantly improving the confidence of local people and their levels of satisfaction with the policing provided.
As a Chief Officer he took the lead in a variety of areas, he oversaw the roll out of Neighbourhood Policing across Devon and Cornwall and led work to maximise the time officers are able to spend outside the police station. For a year he was the chief officer responsible for HR and training. He also led the Constabulary’s work on significant reorganisation to focus on providing better services tackling both local issues and serious and organised crime.
During 2005, on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), he had national responsibility for tackling knife crime, including organising a national knife amnesty. As a member of the ACPO drugs committee he led on “National Tackling Drugs Week” in support of the national drugs strategy.
In June 2008 he played a lead role in dealing with the bombing incident in Exeter City Centre.
Tony Melville’s career began in 1981 when he joined Warwickshire Constabulary having spent three years as a police cadet. He served there in all ranks up to Detective Chief Superintendent gaining a wide range of operational experience before moving to Devon and Cornwall. He has experience as a beat officer, traffic officer and detective.
As a firearms commander and hostage negotiator he has dealt with a number of challenging incidents. He has been in charge of communications and support teams as well as two years as a BCU commander.
In 2000 he worked on secondment in the private sector experiencing the management of change and partnership working in different organisations. This included the merger of two companies and developing strategic partnerships to improve service to customers and share value. The following year he conducted a comparative policing visit to Ontario Provincial Police in Canada exploring different approaches to Neighbourhood Policing, funding models and the concept of lead forces.
He is married to Jacqueline and they have three boys.
He has a Masters Degree in Organisational Management from Manchester University and an Advanced Diploma in Criminology from Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and a member of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives. He is a graduate of the Strategic Command Course 2001 and the Cabinet Office – Prime Ministers Top Management Programme in 2009.
Michael Matthews, Deputy Chief Constable
DCC Michael Matthews, formerly a Chief Superintendent with Kent Police, took up his appointment in Gloucestershire initially as ACC Corporate Services in October 2005 before taking over as ACC Operations in April 2008. He was appointed as the force Deputy Chief on 8th January 2010
Mr Matthews born in Erith in Kent has previously served with Kent Police joining the service in 1982, after having trained to be an Automobile Electrician working for a Rolls Royce dealership in Canterbury, Kent.
After his initial police training he was posted to Gillingham, where he served until his posting to the Force Training School as a law instructor in 1986. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1989, serving at Gravesend and force headquarters in both uniform and detective roles.
In 1992 he was promoted to Inspector, serving at Maidstone and Swale again in both uniform and detective roles. He was subsequently promoted to Chief Inspector, Operations, at Swale in 1996.
Also in 1996 he was given a placement on the Wolfson Course and Programme at Wolfson College, Cambridge University, and went on to graduate from the University of Leicester, having completed a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice Studies in the same year.
He returned to Kent Force Headquarters to head up the Force Intelligence Bureau in 1997 and was promoted to Detective Superintendent, Head of Kent Police Intelligence, in 1999. This was then followed by his appointment as Basic Command Unit (BCU) Commander at Kent's County Town of Maidstone for three years, during which time he was seconded to the South Australia Police. Working as Commander in Adelaide City Centre he was responsible for assisting with development of the Australian Intelligence led policing model.
On return to the UK in 2002 he was promoted to Chief Superintendent and seconded to the Police Leadership and Powers Unit of the Home Office in London. His role was to lead a national team responsible for the Modernisation of Probationer Training programmes in England and Wales. He returned to Kent in 2003 and took over responsibility for Area and Tactical operations, managing the force's nine BCUs, Firearms, Traffic and Dog Section.
He attended the Strategic Command Course in 2004 and while on the course spent time in the USA examining the response of the FBI and New York Police Departments to the devastating events of September 11th and their subsequent counter terrorism techniques. On return to Kent he took over responsibility for Strategic Criminal Justice and was also the project lead for developing collaboration activities with neighbouring forces, resulting in the formal creation of a 'South East Policing Alliance'.
He lives in Gloucestershire with Zoe and enjoys photography, theatre and walking the family German Shepherd across the hills of the Cotswolds whenever he gets the opportunity.
Ivor Twydell, Assistant Chief Constable, Local Policing
Ivor Twydell was born in Luton, Bedfordshire and grew up in and around the market town of Dunstable. Although his father was a farmer, Ivor declined to join the family business and instead commenced a ten-year career in the music business both as a performer and producer.
In 1986 he joined Bedfordshire Police and was initially posted as a patrol Constable covering the urban and rural areas of South and Mid Bedfordshire. In 1989, he obtained a place on the Accelerated Promotion Scheme and on promotion to Sergeant he was posted to Luton on general policing duties. In 1991, he was promoted to Inspector and posted to Bedford where he led a patrol shift before being appointed as Force Crime Prevention Officer in November 1992. In this role he developed a crime reduction strategy for the force that was described by HMIC as ‘comprehensive and innovative’. In this role he also helped the force undertake a root and branch review of crime management, and, in early 1996, was promoted to Detective Chief Inspector to lead the implementation of the review recommendations.
In September 1996 he was appointed as the Chief Inspector in charge of Police Operations for the Mid Bedfordshire Division. In June 1997, he was promoted to Superintendent and posted once more to Luton where he was placed in charge of Police Operations for the town, with additional responsibilities as Airport Commander for Luton London Airport. As a trained hostage negotiator he also performed the role of Co-ordinator for the force hostage and crisis negotiator team, a position that provided him with an opportunity in 1998 to train with the FBI negotiator team in Quantico, USA.
In early 2000 he was appointed as Head of Community Action for Bedfordshire Police where he undertook a far-reaching review of the force response to the report of the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence, developing a Diversity Strategy for the force. At this time he also set up the Bedfordshire and Luton Independent Advisory Group. He also led the force training team for the delivery to all officers and staff of the Personal Leadership Programme, a ground-breaking leadership development initiative.
In mid 2001, he was promoted to Temporary Chief Superintendent and appointed as Divisional Commander for the South and Mid Bedfordshire Division, this promotion being made substantive a few months later.
In November 2003, he returned once more to Luton on appointment as Divisional Commander. In this role, he restructured the Division, the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, and was elected as Chair of the Local Strategic Partnership where he played a key role in negotiating the Local Area Agreement with Government Office.
In 2006, he attended the Strategic Command Course and on return to his force was appointed as Head of Citizen Focus with responsibility for improving local confidence and satisfaction in the police.
In April 2008, he was appointed as Assistant Chief Constable Corporate Services with Gloucestershire Constabulary and is delighted at this opportunity to serve the people of Gloucestershire.
In addition to his professional training as a police officer, Ivor Twydell is also a trained life coach holding a number of professional coaching qualifications, including a Diploma in Performance Coaching. He is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute and a Certified Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming.
He enjoys travel, reading – in particular Native American studies – music, films and theatre, and walking/hiking. He has two grown up daughters, the eldest of whom is a police officer in the Metropolitan Police. He now lives in Gloucestershire.
Steve Ackland, Temporary Assistant Chief Constable, Protective Services
Steve Ackland, M.A.
Steve Ackland holds the substantive post of Chief Superintendent, Head of Operations for the Gloucestershire Constabulary, a role to which he was appointed in July 2005.
He was born and educated in Plymouth, Devon before embarking on a career as a Navigating Officer in the Merchant Navy, a role that took him all over the world for 12 years.
In 1985 Steve joined the Gloucestershire Constabulary and spent his early years as a Patrol Constable in Gloucester. He has risen steadily through the ranks, undertaking a number of roles along the way though spending most of his time in mainstream Operational Policing. During this time he gained a Masters Degree in Public Services Management.
In 1997 he led the review team that restructured the Force into the shape it still holds today. From 2001 – 2004 he headed the Constabulary Change Programme, which introduced the new Digital communication system “Airwave”, took the new County Headquarters PFI project to Financial Close and was also the police lead on the commissioning of the Tri-service Control Room project.
Steve has a keen interest in Counter Terrorism work and the management of Major Incidents. He was the first Superintendent in Gloucestershire to be trained in CBRN command, and remains an active Firearms Incident Commander and Major Sporting Event Commander.
Steve undertook the role of Gold Commander during the flooding emergency that affected Gloucestershire during July 2007 and then performed an extended period as temporary ACC (Operations), a role he has now returned to again.
Amanda Newman, Director of People
Amanda Newman Chartered FCIPD, BA, MSc took up her appointment as Director of Human Resources on 2 April 2007.
Before joining Gloucestershire Constabulary Amanda was Director of Human Resources for Cardiff University. She was appointed to this post on the merger of Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine where she had held the post of Director of Personnel. Amanda was responsible for leading the HR aspects of the merger of the two Universities. Prior to that she held various HR posts in the public and private sector including the University of Glamorgan, British Airways and NACRO. She has also held the post of Non Executive Director of Ceredigion and Mid Wales NHS Trust Board.
She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a graduate of the University of Wales Aberystwyth and has an MSc in Management Development and Training from Bristol University.
Mike Barrow, Director of Finance
Mr Mike Barrow, CPFA, BSc, took up his appointment as Director of Finance in April 2007 following 16½ years service with the Constabulary.
Mr Barrow is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (Cipfa) with an honours degree in Physics obtained at Bristol University.
Mr Barrow entered public service in 1983 as a clerical assistant in the City Treasury department of Bristol City Council. Following obtainment of his professional accountancy qualification in 1989 Mr Barrow joined Gloucestershire County Council as an accountant in the Treasurer's department before taking up the position of departmental accountant for the Constabulary in September 1990.
Following the establishment of an independent Police Authority in 1995 Mr Barrow's portfolio steadily increased to encompass first Procurement, then Buildings Management, and more recent, following his appointment as Director of Finance, Transport Services.