Chief Constable's Spring Lecture

The title of the lecture is “Turning the Tanker” – Reflections on 18-months as Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, taking place in Lecture Theatre 2, Redmonds Building.

Craig Guildford became Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 5 December 2022.

Craig sets the vision and direction for the force, leading its operational delivery to serve communities across the West Midlands.

Alongside his role as Chief Constable, Craig is:

• National Police Chiefs’ Lead for Professional Standards and Ethics, and for Complaints and Misconduct.

• Co-Director of the Strategic Command course.

• The NPCC Examinations Lead.

• A specialist firearms commander and public order commander, and assesses nationally in both disciplines.

• A Chief Police Officers’ Staff Association Friend and Committee member.

Craig’s policing career began when he joined Cheshire Constabulary as a Police Constable in 1994 after completing a Geography degree at the University of Derby. He had previously served as a volunteer Special Constable with the same force since 1992.

After 18 months’ service as a uniformed Police Constable, he went into the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and worked in a number of proactive and re-active crime units across the Constabulary.

In 2000, he was seconded to the National Crime Squad in Manchester, where he worked in intelligence and targeted operations as a Detective Constable and Detective Sergeant.

On returning to Cheshire Constabulary, Craig gained a place on the High Potential Development Scheme, working in various operational and crime roles across four commands.

In October 2012 Craig was appointed as Assistant Chief Constable for Specialist Operations with West Yorkshire Police, before joining Gwent Police as Deputy Chief Constable in April 2014.

In February 2017, Craig joined Nottinghamshire Police as Chief Constable where he delivered a partnership-focused policing service that provided value for money for local people while also seeing an increase in the number of police officers employed by the force.

Craig was awarded The Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2021.