Chief officer group

Maggie has operational experience of working in and managing criminal justice services over 30 years, with specialist knowledge of public protection working as a practitioner and manager in probation and prisons, youth justice and child protection.

In the early part of her career she worked across London and Oxford in the probation service and set up the first youth offending service in Oxfordshire. During 2000 to 2016 she held national roles with the Youth Justice and Parole Boards for England and Wales. 

In 2016 Maggie joined policing as a district commander with responsibility for Portsmouth City as Superintendent.  After completing the National Police Strategic Command Course in 2019 she held the role of Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing which included oversight of public protection services across Wiltshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In 2021 Maggie was appointed as the national VAWG Coordinator for the National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) with oversight of the national policing response to violence against women and girls including portfolio lead for Violence and Public Protection.

In November 2023 she became the new DCEO (DCC) of the national College of Policing whilst retaining the NPCC lead for tackling VAWG and chair of the national Violence and Public Protection Board.

In October 2024 Maggie became the Interim Chief Constable for Gloucestershire Constabulary.

Maggie Blyth is now the Temporary Chief Constable in the absence of Chief Constable Rod Hansen.

Katy joined Thames Valley Police in 2000 having studied Sociology at the London School of Economics. She worked in a variety of role and ranks including uniform patrol, CID, neighbourhood policing, child abuse investigation, surveillance and strategic development. In April 2023, Katy was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable for Crime and Criminal Justice, with force wide responsibility for Crime, Intelligence, Public Protection, Criminal Justice and Forensics. She also led Thames Valley Police’s response to Violence Against Women and Girls. In November 2024 Katy took up the position of Interim Deputy Chief Constable at Gloucestershire Constabulary.

Katy completed her Masters in Police Leadership and Management at Warwick Business School in 2015. She has a keen academic interest in domestic abuse, and published an academic journal article on domestic abuse attrition rates [1] following her Masters research, and a book chapter on domestic abuse in ‘An Introduction to Professional Policing’ [2]. She has also written a book with colleagues titled Policing Domestic Abuse – Risk, Policy & Practice published by Routledge in November 2022. Katy continues to work academically in this field, now focussing on adolescent domestic abuse in a research partnership with the VISION consortium at City University, London where she is a Practitioner in Residence.

Katy instigated the ‘TVP Journal’ which is a fantastic gateway to recognise the academic work of officers and staff. Following the success of the TVP Journal Katy was asked to be the Editor in Chief of the College of Policing Publication ‘Going Equipped’ [3]. Katy also leads on @WeCops [4] a twitter debate forum on current police issues in the UK.

In 2024 Katy was the runner up in the World Policing Summit awards in Dubai in the category of Inspirational Female Police Officer.

References

[1] Attrition Rates in Domestic Abuse: Time for a Change? An Application of Temporal Sequencing Theory | Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
[2] Introduction to Professional Policing: Examining the Evidence Base - 1
[3] Going equipped – highlighting your experiences | College of Policing
[4] www.WeCops.org

Richard joined Avon and Somerset Constabulary in April 1997. His first posting was to Taunton Police Station in Somerset. In 2003, he was accredited as a detective and worked in the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) at the old Bridgwater Police Station. Many of his postings since 2003 have been in investigative roles. In 2005, Richard was promoted to Sergeant and, after a short stint as a custody sergeant at Bridgwater, he moved to Filton Police Station on the outskirts of Bristol as a patrol sergeant.

Richard later became a Detective Sergeant and took on roles within volume crime, CID, intelligence and covert policing before being promoted to Detective Inspector in central Bristol. From there, he moved to the Major Crime Investigation Team in 2014 working from Kenneth Steele House as a nationally accredited homicide senior investigating officer (SIO). He was the SIO for an array of different murders, a number of which were highly complex and attracted national media attention.

At the end of 2016 Richard moved to Gloucestershire as a Detective Chief Inspector and became the head of CID. He has held portfolios including rape and serious sexual offending, stalking, harassment, financial investigation, and was the regional lead for domestic abuse. He was instrumental in setting up and chairing the county’s ‘stalking clinic’.

In 2019, as a Superintendent, he became the Head of Investigations before moving on to become the Head of Criminal Justice. He held this very challenging role through the Covid-19 pandemic when the courts were closed and new legislation was implemented to deal with the health crisis. Richard has also led our wellbeing approach since 2019.

In 2021, he took on responsibility for leading improvements to address concerns raised by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) following our main bi-annual inspection. His work included improving investigative standards, crime recording, victim care, public contact and performance. This culminated in the constabulary successfully moving away from being an ‘engaged’ force in September 2023 and a significantly improved HMICFRS report being published in March 2024.

Away from the workplace, Richard is a keen sportsperson and enjoys playing football, tennis and swimming.

Donna joined Nottinghamshire Police as a Special Constable in 1995 and became a full-time officer in August 1999; she first worked on response policing before becoming a dog handler. Having a love for dogs, this was a perfect role and one she stayed in for over a decade, working alongside firearms teams.

Whilst in the Operational Support Department, Donna qualified as an advanced driver and was also POLSA and TASER trained. She was promoted as the Dog Section and Territorial Support Group Sergeant. After undertaking further roles as a Sergeant, Donna was promoted to Inspector and had roles in Neighbourhood Policing and Response. 

She worked with the community as a Neighbourhood Policing Inspector in one of the busiest and riskiest areas in Nottinghamshire. Following this, she became the Chief Inspector for neighbourhoods and response policing within Nottinghamshire City Centre and the Force lead for tackling Knife Crime. She led numerous operations and the Force's proactive teams, building relationships with multiple partners and communities.

In 2020 she gained further promotion as a Superintendent to become the head of Nottinghamshire Police's Professional Standards Directorate. In that post she implemented a new culture focussed on learning and development - but with an emphasis on strong standards. Here, she worked closely with the Police Federation, Staff Associations and Support Networks.

More recently, Donna has been Nottinghamshire Police's Head of Corporate Services, leading multiple departments including Information Services, Information Management, Supplies and Equipment, Archives and Exhibits, Business Analytics and more.

For the past 12 years Donna has been a Hostage and Crisis Negotiator and is trained to deal with kidnap and extortion cases (she was the East Midlands regional lead for negotiation).

Donna is also a qualified coach and enjoys helping others at all ranks and grades - she continues to coach both internally and externally, and has a Masters Degree in Police Leadership. She is also a Strategic Firearms and CBRN Commander.

Donna is married to a serving officer and together they have three dogs (two German Shepherds and a Spaniel) - all of whom have been rescued from the RSPCA.

Arman joined Gloucestershire Constabulary in 2005 and has since served in a broad range of uniform and detective roles. Starting his career as a Barton & Tredworth Response officer, Arman learnt the value of community policing and crime investigation before progressing to become a neighbourhood Sergeant. As an Inspector he worked in the Force Control Room before becoming a Detective Inspector within Criminal Investigation Department and Major Crime. During this time his focus on intelligence led policing saw a move into the Intelligence directorate where he led multiple specialist teams over a number of years, whilst also completing a Masters in Police Leadership and Management, focusing on employee wellbeing and systems thinking.

In 2015 Arman was appointed as Head of Intelligence and Covert Policing. Arman went on to establish the country’s first Digital Intelligence and Investigations (DII) unit, leading on the development of innovative capabilities to tackle cybercrime. A secondment followed where he worked successfully with national partners to design and deliver a DII operating model for UK policing.

Returning to Gloucestershire, Arman led the local implementation of the Investigatory Powers Act before being appointed as Head of Force Response & Specialist Operations. It was in this role he led the force, as Silver Commander, successfully through the Covid Pandemic.  

A move back into crime saw him appointed as Head of Public Protection responsible for the safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults, and investigation of the county’s most dangerous offenders. Here he worked effectively with a broad range of statutory and voluntary partners leading to enhanced data sharing, multi-agency co-location, and the delivery of multiple joint innovations.

In 2021, following a challenging inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), Arman was appointed as Chief Superintendent of Corporate Development and tasked with better aligning resource capacity and capability to current and future demand. Over 12 months he led a systems review and restructure of the Constabulary, playing a significant role in supporting a swift exit from the HMICFRS engage process. To support the model implementation, he took on a new role of Head of Local Policing where he was responsible for force-wide Response, Neighbourhood, Specialist Operations and Volume Crime Investigations.

In January 2024 Arman was temporarily appointed as Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Crime, Justice and Vulnerability and latterly took over as chair of the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership, the Local Resilience Forum (a multi-agency partnership board who plan and prepare for localised incidents and emergencies) and CONTEST (response to Counter Terrorism) boards.

In November 2024 he moved to ACC Legitimacy and Misconduct where he holds responsibility for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and internal and external trust and confidence, which includes working as the primary chair of Gross Misconduct hearings.

Alongside these portfolios, Arman continues to lead (as an experienced Public Order Public Safety and Firearms Commander) the strategic response to multiple high profile overt and covert investigations, incidents and events.

David is the Chief Officer leading the Special Constabulary in Gloucestershire, and a member of the Chief Constable’s executive board. As a subject matter expert and critical friend to the Constabulary, he leads executive and organisational understanding of social action and Citizens in Policing.

David is the Chair and Trustee of the ASCO (Association of Special Constabulary Officers) and was the driving force behind developing the ASCO. The ASCO was developed as a national charity to represent every Special Constable, championing the skills, value and legitimacy that Special Constables, as active citizens, bring to policing and to our communities. He is also a Founder and Director of the Global Foundation for Community Safety Volunteering (GFCSV).

David is also a member of the board of advisors at the International Volunteer Law Enforcement Officer Alliance (VLEOA). The VLEOA charity leads in the training and support of reserve and auxiliary law enforcement officers world-wide.

David was the first Special Constable in the U.K. to qualify as a police Football Intelligence Officer (FIO), football liaison and football “spotter” trained by Greater Manchester Police and The United Kingdom Football Policing Unit (UKFPU). In addition, he has completed the Police Senior Leaders course at Bramshill Police College and holds Chartered Managers Institute qualifications in police leadership.

Aside from volunteering in policing since 2008, David is a retired health and social care manager. He was also a registered Local authority residential social care manager, company director, and owned and operated a residential social care business specialising in supporting adults with complex needs and challenging behaviour. He also previously served in the military, medically retiring in 2002 following injuries received in service.

David believes that Special Constables are the subject matter experts on volunteer policing, that they have lived experience bringing a broad social perspective and transferable skills from lives outside of policing. Policing is too important to be left to the police alone and David, ASCO and the Foundation, continue to advocate for civic engagement in society through direct citizen participation, driving cultural change, adding legitimacy and rebuilding public trust & confidence in policing.

Richard has been with Gloucestershire Constabulary since April 2023.

Prior to joining us he held the position of Director of People and Organisational Development at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), a role he performed since June 2018, having previously worked as Director of Human Resources and Interim Head of HR at CNC.

Richard previously he served as the Director of Strategic Services with Bournemouth Borough Council from 2012-14; and was Director of HR at the Council between 2009-12.

He was a senior manager with Wiltshire Police from 2005-09, serving as their Head of Learning and Development.

A qualified HR professional, Richard also has extensive experience in transformation and business change, and throughout his career he has championed a high-performance culture with an emphasis on continuous improvement and innovation and creating an environment of collegiate working.

18 July 2017
Assistant Chief Constable Julian Moss appeared on BBC Points West where he was interviewed about the misconduct hearing of a former police officer.

31 August 2017
Deputy Chief Constable Jon Stratford was interviewed by the Gloucestershire Echo and discussed the results of the recent police morale survey.

13 September 2017
Deputy Chief Constable Jon Stratford appeared on the BBC Radio Gloucestershire breakfast show and discussed the results of the recent police morale survey.

17 May 2019
Deputy Chief Constable Jon Stratford appeared on BBC Points West and the BBC Radio Gloucestershire breakfast show where he discussed an internal investigation into the sale of tyres.

25 July 2019
Chief Constable Rod Hansen took part in a pre-recorded interview for BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s breakfast show where he discussed the results of the recent HMICFRS CDI report.

June 2019
Chief Constable Rod Hansen took part in filming with Channel 4’s Dispatches and discussed the impact of assaults on police officers. This was used on their social media channels (Facebook and Twitter).

14 September 2019
Chief Constable Rod Hansen took part in a live interview for BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s breakfast show where he discussed the Force open day.

24 March 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about police-related coronavirus matters.

25 March 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about police-related coronavirus matters.

27 March 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about police-related coronavirus matters.

30 March 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about police-related coronavirus matters.

3 April 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about police-related coronavirus matters.

Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about concerns around people travelling to the county and out of the county to second homes.

6 April 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about police-related coronavirus matters.

5 May 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about police-related coronavirus matters.

11 May 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about police-related coronavirus matters.

12 May 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Points West about police-related coronavirus matters.

26 May 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about police-related coronavirus matters.

8 June 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about Black Lives Matter and coronavirus concerns.

11 September 2020
Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire and Heart FM in relation to police-related coronavirus matters.

3 October 2022
Detective Chief Constable Shaun West was interviewed live alongside the Chair of the Community Legitimacy Panel Teddy Burton on Gloucester FM about his background, the national Race Action Plan and his commitment to addressing racial inequality and complaints from the black community.

25 November 2022

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone spoke to the Observer Home Affairs Editor about the last HMICFRS PEEL inspection, the Constabulary’s approach to domestic abuse and gang violence.

7 December 2022

Deputy Chief Constable Shaun West interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about his role as the new Executive Chair of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) and the work the LRF does.

25 November 2022

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone spoke to the Guardian newspaper about violent crime in Gloucester and progress being made against the HMICFRS Inspection report

6 January 2023

Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed live on BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s Breakfast Show about officer recruitment and progress against the HMICFRS PEEL inspection report

1 February 2023

Deputy Chief Constable Shaun West interviewed on Gloucester FM about community matters.

1 March 2023

Deputy Chief Constable Shaun West interviewed live on Gloucester FM at its studio in relation to community concerns and the Race Action Plan.

8 March 2023

Deputy Chief Constable Shaun West chaired Strategic Coordination Group meeting at Police HQ for Cheltenham Festival that included media representation by BBC Points West reporter, followed by interview about safety at the event.

27 March 2023

Deputy Chief Constable Shaun West attended a meeting at Police HQ with the regional executive editor for the BBC to discuss BBC restructure plans, as part of understanding how this may affect public service commitments and output in the event of major incidents.

2 May 2023

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about crime recording.

26 May 2023

Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed by Manny Masih for BBC Radio Gloucestershire about the local community’s perception of police and the Casey Report.

21 September 2023

Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about the Constabulary coming out of the HMICFRS ‘engage’ process.

12 January 2024

Chief Constable Rod Hansen interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucestershire about the Community Engagement Forum and the Constabulary’s progress against the Police Race Action Plan. Deputy Chief Constable Shaun West also provided a pre-recorded interview for this report.

5 March 2024

Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson interviewed for the BBC about the upcoming Cheltenham Festival and measures being taken by all agencies to ensure a safe event.