POLICE DETAILS
South Wales Police - Newton (Swansea) Neighbourhood

Born in Port Talbot and raised in Porthcawl, Amanda joined the South Wales Police as a typist in April 1979. Her ambition when she joined was to be a Chief Constable’s secretary but her career took a different path with the advent of the civilianisation programme and she moved unexpectedly into HR (or Personnel as it was known at the time).

Keen to make sure that she had the professional qualifications to back up her experience she gained a HND then a Post Graduate Diploma in HR Management and is now a Fellow of the CIPD. She had the opportunity and support to progress through the police staff ranks to become an administrative manager, HR Support Officer, HR Business Partner, Assistant Director and in July, 2017 the Temporary Director of Support Services.

It was a very proud moment when in 2007 she won the Leading Wales Award for Transformational Leadership and equally proud when she achieved her WJEC in Welsh as she is not a natural linguist.

Amanda’s career journey has been interesting and is an example of how police staff are able to progress through the organisation if it is their ambition to do so.

You can contact Mrs Davies on email: [email protected]

Catherine has been Head of Communications at South Wales Police since 2011.

She has 17 years experience in marketing and communications and is responsible for co-ordinating strategic communications across the organisation. She also provides professional advice and support to the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable.

Catherine leads a communications team which consists of marketing, internal communications, media relations, digital communications, printing and visual media.

Clare worked as a Construction Project Manager for 10 years prior to joining South Wales Police in February 2009. Before being appointed as Head of Estates, Clare undertook a number of roles within the Estates Department including Capital Programme Manager and deputising for the previous Head of Estates.

Clare is responsible for all elements relating to the built environment, from the maintenance of a large policing estate through to multi million pound capital projects. She also manages Central Stores, who are responsible for supplying uniform and operational equipment, and the Printing Department who provide all internal sign, display and printing services.

Clare is currently leading on the construction of a new police Learning & Development facility which will be operational in 2022.

Dale became Chief Officer of the South Wales Police Special Constabulary in January 2012 and is proud to lead the force’s volunteer police officers (special constables).

Dale joined South Wales Police as a special constable in 2007 whilst studying at Swansea University. Passionate about community policing, he served as part of the neighbourhood policing team covering Aberdare. He is one of only two special constables in South Wales to train as a PSU Medic. He is regularly deployed across the force area at large public events and police operations.

In 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Special Inspector for Merthyr and Cynon Valley. He took responsibility for the area’s team of special constables and led a number of local policing operations.

As Chief Officer of the Special Constabulary Dale manages the deployment of special constables across the force area.

Dale studied Medical Science and Humanities at Swansea University, obtaining a first class honours degree. He went on to complete a degree in Medicine at Cardiff University and has a postgraduate certificate in Leadership.

Dale works as a hospital doctor and volunteers as an officer within St John Cymru-Wales. He is married with a daughter.

David was appointed as Assistant Director of Finance in May 2017, having served previously in the capacity of Principal Financial Accountant at both South Wales Police and Gwent Police for the previous 14 years. David has built up significant experience in the production of statutory accounts, treasury management, corporate governance, taxation, change management, budgeting, business case preparation and the delivery of exchequer services functions. David is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and has a degree in Mathematics.

David is married with four sons and is a keen sportsman having played and coached American Football for 30 years.

David Thorne was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in South Wales Police in June 2020 and is responsible for the Specialist Crime portfolio.

David initially qualified as a teacher in 1993, teaching physics and outdoor education, both in the UK and abroad. He has also worked as a mountain leader and kayak instructor.

David joined Devon & Cornwall Police in 1999. After his probationary period, he joined Exeter Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

On promotion to Sergeant, he worked on response, in custody and then in child abuse investigation, both strategically and operationally. At this time, he completed his Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management.   As Inspector, he worked in Plymouth as a Critical Incident Manager prior to returning to crime investigation, as Detective Inspector for Torbay CID. In that capacity, he ran ‘street level up’ investigations to tackle the supply of illicit drugs and the associated harm.

On promotion to Chief Inspector, he returned to Public Protection where he oversaw complex safeguarding issues and operations. This experience forged his later involvement in the re-design of the force safeguarding approach where and the introduction of the Single Safeguarding Process and the Vulnerability Screening Tool (ViST).

In 2013, as Detective Chief Inspector [DCI] he moved to the Major Crime Investigation Team, where he achieved his goal of becoming an accredited homicide Senior Investigation Officer (SIO).

Latterly, he took up uniformed command roles, including overseeing policing in Plymouth as the local Commander, where he enjoyed tackling the challenges of policing a large urban area. He is also an accredited Strategic Firearms Commander and has spent time as a Temporary Assistant Chief Constable with Devon and Cornwall Police, in which role he had responsibility for Innovation, Contact and Demand.

He has long had an affection for South Wales and, over the years, has spent much time here.

David, a father of five, is a keen mountain biker and is delighted that South Wales is blessed with many world-class trails. He is looking forward to helping South Wales Police continue to provide a quality service to our communities.

Debbie joined South Wales Police in 2004 as a Human Resources Advisor for Crime, the Region and operational support. She then progressed to become the Regional Counter Terrorist Coordinator setting up the first training hub for the country. Debbie moved on to work within the All Wales Central Team as the Strategic Change Manager for police collaboration and is currently the assistant director for learning and development services.

Debbie’s previous experience includes over 21 years in the private sector including sales, store manager and regional HR Manager. She also has previous experience within higher education holding a lecturing position for two years.

Jenny Gilmer joined South Wales Police in June 2018 as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Operational Support Services having previously served for 19 years with British Transport Police in various roles in Scotland and London.

A/DCC Gilmer is a Gold Public Order Commander and a Strategic Firearms Commander.

In November 2019 she took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio within South Wales Police, leading the teams which provide response, neighbourhood and investigative services to the communities of Cardiff and the Vale, Mid Glamorgan and Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot.

In November 2020 she was promoted to Acting Deputy Chief Constable with portfolio responsibility for the day to day running of the organisation on behalf of the Chief Constable.  A/DCC Gilmer has responsibility for Corporate Services and Communications and Media Team.

A/DCC Gilmer is the NPCC lead for CCTV.

A/DCC Gilmer is passionate about staff development and is a fully trained coach and a mentor.

Jeremy Vaughan was promoted to Chief Constable of South Wales Police in November 2020.

Jeremy began his policing career in 1996 with North Wales Police. He served the communities of North Wales across a number of roles for twenty years, working up to the rank of Chief Superintendent, where he took responsibility for Local Policing Services.

In 2016 Jeremy transferred to South Wales Police as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Specialist Operations, including Professional Standards, Criminal Justice, Operational Planning and the Public Service Centre. In December 2017 he took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio including leading on Neighbourhood and Response Policing. He remained as Head of this portfolio until he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2019.

In addition to his Force responsibilities, Jeremy is the UK Police lead for Facial Matching (Identification), supporting the national development and use of facial recognition technology by the police forces of England and Wales.

Jeremy is the Welsh lead for gender equality and was recognised for his work in this area by the International Association of Women in Policing in 2019 with the HeForShe award. He has a strong track record in leading on Equalities and in 2019 was recognised with a Leading Wales Award – Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Jeremy was appointed to the Gorsedd Cymru in 2019 for services to the Welsh language which reflects his work within South Wales Police in promoting the use of Welsh and improving the service the force provides to individuals within Welsh speaking communities.

Jeremy is married and has three children.

Joanna joined South Wales Police in 1995. She spent the first 14 years of her service gaining an invaluable amount of operational experience and knowledge across a variety of roles as a police and detective constable. During this time Joanna worked on the Criminal Investigations Department, National Crime Squad, Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit and Investigative Training. Joanna was a National Surveillance Trainer.

Over the following 5 years Joanna worked in a variety of operational roles and ranks from Sergeant to Chief Inspector across the force area, working in frontline positions such as the Force Incident Manager and headquarters positions implementing a change management programme. In 2016 Joanna was promoted to Superintendent in Justice Services with responsibility for Custody and Criminal Justice. In 2018 Joanna was appointed as Superintendent Operations in Cardiff having responsibility for all aspects of operational policing within the capital city. In February 2019 she was promoted to Chief Superintendent becoming the first female BCU Commander of Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot.

Joanna was the first force lead for Operation Sceptre, instrumental in formulating and implementing the forces response to knife crime. Joanna was one of the first selected members of the Independent Ethics committee. Joanna is currently the force lead for substance misuse working in partnership with a number of agencies to tackle this issue. Joanna has been a tactical firearms commander and is currently a Strategic Firearms and CBRN Commander.

Joanna has a Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management from Warwick University.

Joanna is married and having represented Wales in athletics in her youth she continues in her spare time keeping fit, running, playing hockey and skiing.

Joanna’s temporary promotion to Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Territorial Policing commenced on 9th November 2020.

Mark joined South Wales Police in September 2018 as Director of People and Organisational Development having enjoyed a career spanning 18 years within the private sector. Working within the steel industry, Mark has more than 13 years’ experience as a senior leader working across several large, complex, multi-site organisations.

Mark provides depth and breadth of experience across the HR agenda at both a strategic and pragmatic level. Having operated as an HR Business Partner for more than six years, Mark has also held lead roles across the UK within industrial relations, policy development, reward and organisational development. Prior to joining the Force Mark’s most recent position was Head of Capability, Talent and Training for Tata Steel UK.

In his role at South Wales Police, Mark provides leadership and strategic direction for workforce development and is responsible for people service functions including safety, occupational health, human resources, employee engagement,  organisational and learning development.

In addition to this, Mark is the Welsh lead for human resources and learning and development collaboration.  He is also the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) lead for learning and development.

Mark is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a member of the Industrial Law Society. Mark graduated with an MA in Geography, from the University of St Andrews in 1998, a Masters (Msc) degree in HR Management and more recently a Masters Degree (LLM) in Employment Law and Practice.

Mark was born in Neath and was brought up in the Swansea Valley. He now lives in the South Wales area with his wife and two young children. Whilst Mark used to enjoy playing a lot of sport, today his spare time is taken up coaching a local junior football team and supporting local rugby and football teams.

Mark Travis was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in South Wales Police in June 2020.

Mark joined Cheshire Police in 1998, having previously worked internationally in the private sector. Mark predominantly worked in proactive and public order policing, and established Cheshire police’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) team.

In 2004 he transferred to West Mercia Police, working in operational support roles including the dog section, roads policing, public order and specialist search units. Mark rose from the rank of Sergeant to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable during his time with West Mercia.

In his tenure he oversaw the modernising of the force’s IT capabilities, and delivered a number of change programmes which enhanced the force’s digital and agile working, as well as their capability in multi-agency partnership working.

He has served as the Head of Intelligence, and fulfilled the roles of Public Order and Firearms Commander, as well as having responsibility for local policing in Worcester during the 2012 floods.

Mark worked to improve the diversity of the force through mentoring and supporting people aspiring to promotion through a new career pathway.

Most recently Mark led a change programme in the dissolution of the strategic alliance between West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police. This was followed by his promotion to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable in October 2019, where he had command of the force’s Protective Services portfolio.

Mark joined South Wales Police in 2020, as Assistant Chief Constable for the Operational Support portfolio.

Mark spent a lot of leisure time in South Wales prior to his appointment, and spends his free time walking in the countryside with his family.

Martin has worked in a number of IT roles including Technical Support, Software Development, Product Management and IT Management across the Private, Public and Charity sector.

A Chartered IT Professional, Martin joined South Wales Police as Head of ICT in 2003. He became Assistant Director of Information Services following the merger of Information Technology with Information Management.

Siân was appointed Head of Procurement in 2009. She has responsibility for ensuring the delivery of value for money for all goods and services procured by the force.

In her current role as Strategic Procurement Lead, she has strategic responsibility for co-ordinating collaborative procurement activities for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent and South Wales Police forces.

Sian has over 20 years commercial experience in both the private and public sector, including procurement roles within Sony Manufacturing and ACCO Brands.

Umar became Director of Finance for South Wales Police in August 2007.

He has financial experience in both the public and private sector. This includes ten years experience with Gwent Police as Head of Finance, and three years with Lincolnshire Police as Director of Finance and Administration.

Umar has a BA Honours in Accounting and Finance and trained as an accountant in London. He is also a fellow member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.

He provides strategic direction, control and advice on all financial matters within the force, responsible for Corporate Finance, Estates, Facilities, Fleet and Procurement.

Umar chairs the Ystadau Cymru (Estates Wales) working group, member of the Home Office National Commercial Board and Chair of the All Wales Police Procurement Board. He is a Governor of the Cardiff Metropolitan University and Chair of their Audit Committee.

Umar is heavily engaged in Police Collaboration and is the regional police lead for Finance in Wales.

In 2003 Umar completed the Police Senior Command Course.

In 2015 Umar was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and awarded an MBE.

In 2017 Umar completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy.

He is married with two grown up children.

Born in Port Talbot and raised in Porthcawl, Amanda joined the South Wales Police as a typist in April 1979. Her ambition when she joined was to be a Chief Constable’s secretary but her career took a different path with the advent of the civilianisation programme and she moved unexpectedly into HR (or Personnel as it was known at the time).

Keen to make sure that she had the professional qualifications to back up her experience she gained a HND then a Post Graduate Diploma in HR Management and is now a Fellow of the CIPD. She had the opportunity and support to progress through the police staff ranks to become an administrative manager, HR Support Officer, HR Business Partner, Assistant Director and in July, 2017 the Temporary Director of Support Services.

It was a very proud moment when in 2007 she won the Leading Wales Award for Transformational Leadership and equally proud when she achieved her WJEC in Welsh as she is not a natural linguist.

Amanda’s career journey has been interesting and is an example of how police staff are able to progress through the organisation if it is their ambition to do so.

You can contact Mrs Davies on email: [email protected]

Catherine has been Head of Communications at South Wales Police since 2011.

She has 17 years experience in marketing and communications and is responsible for co-ordinating strategic communications across the organisation. She also provides professional advice and support to the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable.

Catherine leads a communications team which consists of marketing, internal communications, media relations, digital communications, printing and visual media.

Clare worked as a Construction Project Manager for 10 years prior to joining South Wales Police in February 2009. Before being appointed as Head of Estates, Clare undertook a number of roles within the Estates Department including Capital Programme Manager and deputising for the previous Head of Estates.

Clare is responsible for all elements relating to the built environment, from the maintenance of a large policing estate through to multi million pound capital projects. She also manages Central Stores, who are responsible for supplying uniform and operational equipment, and the Printing Department who provide all internal sign, display and printing services.

Clare is currently leading on the construction of a new police Learning & Development facility which will be operational in 2022.

Dale became Chief Officer of the South Wales Police Special Constabulary in January 2012 and is proud to lead the force’s volunteer police officers (special constables).

Dale joined South Wales Police as a special constable in 2007 whilst studying at Swansea University. Passionate about community policing, he served as part of the neighbourhood policing team covering Aberdare. He is one of only two special constables in South Wales to train as a PSU Medic. He is regularly deployed across the force area at large public events and police operations.

In 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Special Inspector for Merthyr and Cynon Valley. He took responsibility for the area’s team of special constables and led a number of local policing operations.

As Chief Officer of the Special Constabulary Dale manages the deployment of special constables across the force area.

Dale studied Medical Science and Humanities at Swansea University, obtaining a first class honours degree. He went on to complete a degree in Medicine at Cardiff University and has a postgraduate certificate in Leadership.

Dale works as a hospital doctor and volunteers as an officer within St John Cymru-Wales. He is married with a daughter.

David was appointed as Assistant Director of Finance in May 2017, having served previously in the capacity of Principal Financial Accountant at both South Wales Police and Gwent Police for the previous 14 years. David has built up significant experience in the production of statutory accounts, treasury management, corporate governance, taxation, change management, budgeting, business case preparation and the delivery of exchequer services functions. David is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and has a degree in Mathematics.

David is married with four sons and is a keen sportsman having played and coached American Football for 30 years.

David Thorne was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in South Wales Police in June 2020 and is responsible for the Specialist Crime portfolio.

David initially qualified as a teacher in 1993, teaching physics and outdoor education, both in the UK and abroad. He has also worked as a mountain leader and kayak instructor.

David joined Devon & Cornwall Police in 1999. After his probationary period, he joined Exeter Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

On promotion to Sergeant, he worked on response, in custody and then in child abuse investigation, both strategically and operationally. At this time, he completed his Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management.   As Inspector, he worked in Plymouth as a Critical Incident Manager prior to returning to crime investigation, as Detective Inspector for Torbay CID. In that capacity, he ran ‘street level up’ investigations to tackle the supply of illicit drugs and the associated harm.

On promotion to Chief Inspector, he returned to Public Protection where he oversaw complex safeguarding issues and operations. This experience forged his later involvement in the re-design of the force safeguarding approach where and the introduction of the Single Safeguarding Process and the Vulnerability Screening Tool (ViST).

In 2013, as Detective Chief Inspector [DCI] he moved to the Major Crime Investigation Team, where he achieved his goal of becoming an accredited homicide Senior Investigation Officer (SIO).

Latterly, he took up uniformed command roles, including overseeing policing in Plymouth as the local Commander, where he enjoyed tackling the challenges of policing a large urban area. He is also an accredited Strategic Firearms Commander and has spent time as a Temporary Assistant Chief Constable with Devon and Cornwall Police, in which role he had responsibility for Innovation, Contact and Demand.

He has long had an affection for South Wales and, over the years, has spent much time here.

David, a father of five, is a keen mountain biker and is delighted that South Wales is blessed with many world-class trails. He is looking forward to helping South Wales Police continue to provide a quality service to our communities.

Debbie joined South Wales Police in 2004 as a Human Resources Advisor for Crime, the Region and operational support. She then progressed to become the Regional Counter Terrorist Coordinator setting up the first training hub for the country. Debbie moved on to work within the All Wales Central Team as the Strategic Change Manager for police collaboration and is currently the assistant director for learning and development services.

Debbie’s previous experience includes over 21 years in the private sector including sales, store manager and regional HR Manager. She also has previous experience within higher education holding a lecturing position for two years.

Jenny Gilmer joined South Wales Police in June 2018 as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Operational Support Services having previously served for 19 years with British Transport Police in various roles in Scotland and London.

A/DCC Gilmer is a Gold Public Order Commander and a Strategic Firearms Commander.

In November 2019 she took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio within South Wales Police, leading the teams which provide response, neighbourhood and investigative services to the communities of Cardiff and the Vale, Mid Glamorgan and Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot.

In November 2020 she was promoted to Acting Deputy Chief Constable with portfolio responsibility for the day to day running of the organisation on behalf of the Chief Constable.  A/DCC Gilmer has responsibility for Corporate Services and Communications and Media Team.

A/DCC Gilmer is the NPCC lead for CCTV.

A/DCC Gilmer is passionate about staff development and is a fully trained coach and a mentor.

Jeremy Vaughan was promoted to Chief Constable of South Wales Police in November 2020.

Jeremy began his policing career in 1996 with North Wales Police. He served the communities of North Wales across a number of roles for twenty years, working up to the rank of Chief Superintendent, where he took responsibility for Local Policing Services.

In 2016 Jeremy transferred to South Wales Police as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Specialist Operations, including Professional Standards, Criminal Justice, Operational Planning and the Public Service Centre. In December 2017 he took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio including leading on Neighbourhood and Response Policing. He remained as Head of this portfolio until he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2019.

In addition to his Force responsibilities, Jeremy is the UK Police lead for Facial Matching (Identification), supporting the national development and use of facial recognition technology by the police forces of England and Wales.

Jeremy is the Welsh lead for gender equality and was recognised for his work in this area by the International Association of Women in Policing in 2019 with the HeForShe award. He has a strong track record in leading on Equalities and in 2019 was recognised with a Leading Wales Award – Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Jeremy was appointed to the Gorsedd Cymru in 2019 for services to the Welsh language which reflects his work within South Wales Police in promoting the use of Welsh and improving the service the force provides to individuals within Welsh speaking communities.

Jeremy is married and has three children.

Joanna joined South Wales Police in 1995. She spent the first 14 years of her service gaining an invaluable amount of operational experience and knowledge across a variety of roles as a police and detective constable. During this time Joanna worked on the Criminal Investigations Department, National Crime Squad, Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit and Investigative Training. Joanna was a National Surveillance Trainer.

Over the following 5 years Joanna worked in a variety of operational roles and ranks from Sergeant to Chief Inspector across the force area, working in frontline positions such as the Force Incident Manager and headquarters positions implementing a change management programme. In 2016 Joanna was promoted to Superintendent in Justice Services with responsibility for Custody and Criminal Justice. In 2018 Joanna was appointed as Superintendent Operations in Cardiff having responsibility for all aspects of operational policing within the capital city. In February 2019 she was promoted to Chief Superintendent becoming the first female BCU Commander of Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot.

Joanna was the first force lead for Operation Sceptre, instrumental in formulating and implementing the forces response to knife crime. Joanna was one of the first selected members of the Independent Ethics committee. Joanna is currently the force lead for substance misuse working in partnership with a number of agencies to tackle this issue. Joanna has been a tactical firearms commander and is currently a Strategic Firearms and CBRN Commander.

Joanna has a Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management from Warwick University.

Joanna is married and having represented Wales in athletics in her youth she continues in her spare time keeping fit, running, playing hockey and skiing.

Joanna’s temporary promotion to Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Territorial Policing commenced on 9th November 2020.

Mark joined South Wales Police in September 2018 as Director of People and Organisational Development having enjoyed a career spanning 18 years within the private sector. Working within the steel industry, Mark has more than 13 years’ experience as a senior leader working across several large, complex, multi-site organisations.

Mark provides depth and breadth of experience across the HR agenda at both a strategic and pragmatic level. Having operated as an HR Business Partner for more than six years, Mark has also held lead roles across the UK within industrial relations, policy development, reward and organisational development. Prior to joining the Force Mark’s most recent position was Head of Capability, Talent and Training for Tata Steel UK.

In his role at South Wales Police, Mark provides leadership and strategic direction for workforce development and is responsible for people service functions including safety, occupational health, human resources, employee engagement,  organisational and learning development.

In addition to this, Mark is the Welsh lead for human resources and learning and development collaboration.  He is also the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) lead for learning and development.

Mark is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a member of the Industrial Law Society. Mark graduated with an MA in Geography, from the University of St Andrews in 1998, a Masters (Msc) degree in HR Management and more recently a Masters Degree (LLM) in Employment Law and Practice.

Mark was born in Neath and was brought up in the Swansea Valley. He now lives in the South Wales area with his wife and two young children. Whilst Mark used to enjoy playing a lot of sport, today his spare time is taken up coaching a local junior football team and supporting local rugby and football teams.

Mark Travis was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in South Wales Police in June 2020.

Mark joined Cheshire Police in 1998, having previously worked internationally in the private sector. Mark predominantly worked in proactive and public order policing, and established Cheshire police’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) team.

In 2004 he transferred to West Mercia Police, working in operational support roles including the dog section, roads policing, public order and specialist search units. Mark rose from the rank of Sergeant to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable during his time with West Mercia.

In his tenure he oversaw the modernising of the force’s IT capabilities, and delivered a number of change programmes which enhanced the force’s digital and agile working, as well as their capability in multi-agency partnership working.

He has served as the Head of Intelligence, and fulfilled the roles of Public Order and Firearms Commander, as well as having responsibility for local policing in Worcester during the 2012 floods.

Mark worked to improve the diversity of the force through mentoring and supporting people aspiring to promotion through a new career pathway.

Most recently Mark led a change programme in the dissolution of the strategic alliance between West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police. This was followed by his promotion to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable in October 2019, where he had command of the force’s Protective Services portfolio.

Mark joined South Wales Police in 2020, as Assistant Chief Constable for the Operational Support portfolio.

Mark spent a lot of leisure time in South Wales prior to his appointment, and spends his free time walking in the countryside with his family.

Martin has worked in a number of IT roles including Technical Support, Software Development, Product Management and IT Management across the Private, Public and Charity sector.

A Chartered IT Professional, Martin joined South Wales Police as Head of ICT in 2003. He became Assistant Director of Information Services following the merger of Information Technology with Information Management.

Siân was appointed Head of Procurement in 2009. She has responsibility for ensuring the delivery of value for money for all goods and services procured by the force.

In her current role as Strategic Procurement Lead, she has strategic responsibility for co-ordinating collaborative procurement activities for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent and South Wales Police forces.

Sian has over 20 years commercial experience in both the private and public sector, including procurement roles within Sony Manufacturing and ACCO Brands.

Umar became Director of Finance for South Wales Police in August 2007.

He has financial experience in both the public and private sector. This includes ten years experience with Gwent Police as Head of Finance, and three years with Lincolnshire Police as Director of Finance and Administration.

Umar has a BA Honours in Accounting and Finance and trained as an accountant in London. He is also a fellow member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.

He provides strategic direction, control and advice on all financial matters within the force, responsible for Corporate Finance, Estates, Facilities, Fleet and Procurement.

Umar chairs the Ystadau Cymru (Estates Wales) working group, member of the Home Office National Commercial Board and Chair of the All Wales Police Procurement Board. He is a Governor of the Cardiff Metropolitan University and Chair of their Audit Committee.

Umar is heavily engaged in Police Collaboration and is the regional police lead for Finance in Wales.

In 2003 Umar completed the Police Senior Command Course.

In 2015 Umar was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and awarded an MBE.

In 2017 Umar completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy.

He is married with two grown up children.

Born in Port Talbot and raised in Porthcawl, Amanda joined the South Wales Police as a typist in April 1979. Her ambition when she joined was to be a Chief Constable’s secretary but her career took a different path with the advent of the civilianisation programme and she moved unexpectedly into HR (or Personnel as it was known at the time).

Keen to make sure that she had the professional qualifications to back up her experience she gained a HND then a Post Graduate Diploma in HR Management and is now a Fellow of the CIPD. She had the opportunity and support to progress through the police staff ranks to become an administrative manager, HR Support Officer, HR Business Partner, Assistant Director and in July, 2017 the Temporary Director of Support Services.

It was a very proud moment when in 2007 she won the Leading Wales Award for Transformational Leadership and equally proud when she achieved her WJEC in Welsh as she is not a natural linguist.

Amanda’s career journey has been interesting and is an example of how police staff are able to progress through the organisation if it is their ambition to do so.

You can contact Mrs Davies on email: [email protected]

Catherine has been Head of Communications at South Wales Police since 2011.

She has 17 years experience in marketing and communications and is responsible for co-ordinating strategic communications across the organisation. She also provides professional advice and support to the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable.

Catherine leads a communications team which consists of marketing, internal communications, media relations, digital communications, printing and visual media.

Clare worked as a Construction Project Manager for 10 years prior to joining South Wales Police in February 2009. Before being appointed as Head of Estates, Clare undertook a number of roles within the Estates Department including Capital Programme Manager and deputising for the previous Head of Estates.

Clare is responsible for all elements relating to the built environment, from the maintenance of a large policing estate through to multi million pound capital projects. She also manages Central Stores, who are responsible for supplying uniform and operational equipment, and the Printing Department who provide all internal sign, display and printing services.

Clare is currently leading on the construction of a new police Learning & Development facility which will be operational in 2022.

Dale became Chief Officer of the South Wales Police Special Constabulary in January 2012 and is proud to lead the force’s volunteer police officers (special constables).

Dale joined South Wales Police as a special constable in 2007 whilst studying at Swansea University. Passionate about community policing, he served as part of the neighbourhood policing team covering Aberdare. He is one of only two special constables in South Wales to train as a PSU Medic. He is regularly deployed across the force area at large public events and police operations.

In 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Special Inspector for Merthyr and Cynon Valley. He took responsibility for the area’s team of special constables and led a number of local policing operations.

As Chief Officer of the Special Constabulary Dale manages the deployment of special constables across the force area.

Dale studied Medical Science and Humanities at Swansea University, obtaining a first class honours degree. He went on to complete a degree in Medicine at Cardiff University and has a postgraduate certificate in Leadership.

Dale works as a hospital doctor and volunteers as an officer within St John Cymru-Wales. He is married with a daughter.

David was appointed as Assistant Director of Finance in May 2017, having served previously in the capacity of Principal Financial Accountant at both South Wales Police and Gwent Police for the previous 14 years. David has built up significant experience in the production of statutory accounts, treasury management, corporate governance, taxation, change management, budgeting, business case preparation and the delivery of exchequer services functions. David is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and has a degree in Mathematics.

David is married with four sons and is a keen sportsman having played and coached American Football for 30 years.

David Thorne was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in South Wales Police in June 2020 and is responsible for the Specialist Crime portfolio.

David initially qualified as a teacher in 1993, teaching physics and outdoor education, both in the UK and abroad. He has also worked as a mountain leader and kayak instructor.

David joined Devon & Cornwall Police in 1999. After his probationary period, he joined Exeter Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

On promotion to Sergeant, he worked on response, in custody and then in child abuse investigation, both strategically and operationally. At this time, he completed his Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management.   As Inspector, he worked in Plymouth as a Critical Incident Manager prior to returning to crime investigation, as Detective Inspector for Torbay CID. In that capacity, he ran ‘street level up’ investigations to tackle the supply of illicit drugs and the associated harm.

On promotion to Chief Inspector, he returned to Public Protection where he oversaw complex safeguarding issues and operations. This experience forged his later involvement in the re-design of the force safeguarding approach where and the introduction of the Single Safeguarding Process and the Vulnerability Screening Tool (ViST).

In 2013, as Detective Chief Inspector [DCI] he moved to the Major Crime Investigation Team, where he achieved his goal of becoming an accredited homicide Senior Investigation Officer (SIO).

Latterly, he took up uniformed command roles, including overseeing policing in Plymouth as the local Commander, where he enjoyed tackling the challenges of policing a large urban area. He is also an accredited Strategic Firearms Commander and has spent time as a Temporary Assistant Chief Constable with Devon and Cornwall Police, in which role he had responsibility for Innovation, Contact and Demand.

He has long had an affection for South Wales and, over the years, has spent much time here.

David, a father of five, is a keen mountain biker and is delighted that South Wales is blessed with many world-class trails. He is looking forward to helping South Wales Police continue to provide a quality service to our communities.

Debbie joined South Wales Police in 2004 as a Human Resources Advisor for Crime, the Region and operational support. She then progressed to become the Regional Counter Terrorist Coordinator setting up the first training hub for the country. Debbie moved on to work within the All Wales Central Team as the Strategic Change Manager for police collaboration and is currently the assistant director for learning and development services.

Debbie’s previous experience includes over 21 years in the private sector including sales, store manager and regional HR Manager. She also has previous experience within higher education holding a lecturing position for two years.

Jenny Gilmer joined South Wales Police in June 2018 as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Operational Support Services having previously served for 19 years with British Transport Police in various roles in Scotland and London.

A/DCC Gilmer is a Gold Public Order Commander and a Strategic Firearms Commander.

In November 2019 she took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio within South Wales Police, leading the teams which provide response, neighbourhood and investigative services to the communities of Cardiff and the Vale, Mid Glamorgan and Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot.

In November 2020 she was promoted to Acting Deputy Chief Constable with portfolio responsibility for the day to day running of the organisation on behalf of the Chief Constable.  A/DCC Gilmer has responsibility for Corporate Services and Communications and Media Team.

A/DCC Gilmer is the NPCC lead for CCTV.

A/DCC Gilmer is passionate about staff development and is a fully trained coach and a mentor.

Jeremy Vaughan was promoted to Chief Constable of South Wales Police in November 2020.

Jeremy began his policing career in 1996 with North Wales Police. He served the communities of North Wales across a number of roles for twenty years, working up to the rank of Chief Superintendent, where he took responsibility for Local Policing Services.

In 2016 Jeremy transferred to South Wales Police as Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Specialist Operations, including Professional Standards, Criminal Justice, Operational Planning and the Public Service Centre. In December 2017 he took responsibility for the Territorial Policing portfolio including leading on Neighbourhood and Response Policing. He remained as Head of this portfolio until he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2019.

In addition to his Force responsibilities, Jeremy is the UK Police lead for Facial Matching (Identification), supporting the national development and use of facial recognition technology by the police forces of England and Wales.

Jeremy is the Welsh lead for gender equality and was recognised for his work in this area by the International Association of Women in Policing in 2019 with the HeForShe award. He has a strong track record in leading on Equalities and in 2019 was recognised with a Leading Wales Award – Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion.

A fluent Welsh speaker, Jeremy was appointed to the Gorsedd Cymru in 2019 for services to the Welsh language which reflects his work within South Wales Police in promoting the use of Welsh and improving the service the force provides to individuals within Welsh speaking communities.

Jeremy is married and has three children.

Joanna joined South Wales Police in 1995. She spent the first 14 years of her service gaining an invaluable amount of operational experience and knowledge across a variety of roles as a police and detective constable. During this time Joanna worked on the Criminal Investigations Department, National Crime Squad, Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit and Investigative Training. Joanna was a National Surveillance Trainer.

Over the following 5 years Joanna worked in a variety of operational roles and ranks from Sergeant to Chief Inspector across the force area, working in frontline positions such as the Force Incident Manager and headquarters positions implementing a change management programme. In 2016 Joanna was promoted to Superintendent in Justice Services with responsibility for Custody and Criminal Justice. In 2018 Joanna was appointed as Superintendent Operations in Cardiff having responsibility for all aspects of operational policing within the capital city. In February 2019 she was promoted to Chief Superintendent becoming the first female BCU Commander of Swansea, Neath & Port Talbot.

Joanna was the first force lead for Operation Sceptre, instrumental in formulating and implementing the forces response to knife crime. Joanna was one of the first selected members of the Independent Ethics committee. Joanna is currently the force lead for substance misuse working in partnership with a number of agencies to tackle this issue. Joanna has been a tactical firearms commander and is currently a Strategic Firearms and CBRN Commander.

Joanna has a Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management from Warwick University.

Joanna is married and having represented Wales in athletics in her youth she continues in her spare time keeping fit, running, playing hockey and skiing.

Joanna’s temporary promotion to Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for Territorial Policing commenced on 9th November 2020.

Mark joined South Wales Police in September 2018 as Director of People and Organisational Development having enjoyed a career spanning 18 years within the private sector. Working within the steel industry, Mark has more than 13 years’ experience as a senior leader working across several large, complex, multi-site organisations.

Mark provides depth and breadth of experience across the HR agenda at both a strategic and pragmatic level. Having operated as an HR Business Partner for more than six years, Mark has also held lead roles across the UK within industrial relations, policy development, reward and organisational development. Prior to joining the Force Mark’s most recent position was Head of Capability, Talent and Training for Tata Steel UK.

In his role at South Wales Police, Mark provides leadership and strategic direction for workforce development and is responsible for people service functions including safety, occupational health, human resources, employee engagement,  organisational and learning development.

In addition to this, Mark is the Welsh lead for human resources and learning and development collaboration.  He is also the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) lead for learning and development.

Mark is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a member of the Industrial Law Society. Mark graduated with an MA in Geography, from the University of St Andrews in 1998, a Masters (Msc) degree in HR Management and more recently a Masters Degree (LLM) in Employment Law and Practice.

Mark was born in Neath and was brought up in the Swansea Valley. He now lives in the South Wales area with his wife and two young children. Whilst Mark used to enjoy playing a lot of sport, today his spare time is taken up coaching a local junior football team and supporting local rugby and football teams.

Mark Travis was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in South Wales Police in June 2020.

Mark joined Cheshire Police in 1998, having previously worked internationally in the private sector. Mark predominantly worked in proactive and public order policing, and established Cheshire police’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) team.

In 2004 he transferred to West Mercia Police, working in operational support roles including the dog section, roads policing, public order and specialist search units. Mark rose from the rank of Sergeant to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable during his time with West Mercia.

In his tenure he oversaw the modernising of the force’s IT capabilities, and delivered a number of change programmes which enhanced the force’s digital and agile working, as well as their capability in multi-agency partnership working.

He has served as the Head of Intelligence, and fulfilled the roles of Public Order and Firearms Commander, as well as having responsibility for local policing in Worcester during the 2012 floods.

Mark worked to improve the diversity of the force through mentoring and supporting people aspiring to promotion through a new career pathway.

Most recently Mark led a change programme in the dissolution of the strategic alliance between West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police. This was followed by his promotion to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable in October 2019, where he had command of the force’s Protective Services portfolio.

Mark joined South Wales Police in 2020, as Assistant Chief Constable for the Operational Support portfolio.

Mark spent a lot of leisure time in South Wales prior to his appointment, and spends his free time walking in the countryside with his family.

Martin has worked in a number of IT roles including Technical Support, Software Development, Product Management and IT Management across the Private, Public and Charity sector.

A Chartered IT Professional, Martin joined South Wales Police as Head of ICT in 2003. He became Assistant Director of Information Services following the merger of Information Technology with Information Management.

Siân was appointed Head of Procurement in 2009. She has responsibility for ensuring the delivery of value for money for all goods and services procured by the force.

In her current role as Strategic Procurement Lead, she has strategic responsibility for co-ordinating collaborative procurement activities for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent and South Wales Police forces.

Sian has over 20 years commercial experience in both the private and public sector, including procurement roles within Sony Manufacturing and ACCO Brands.

Umar became Director of Finance for South Wales Police in August 2007.

He has financial experience in both the public and private sector. This includes ten years experience with Gwent Police as Head of Finance, and three years with Lincolnshire Police as Director of Finance and Administration.

Umar has a BA Honours in Accounting and Finance and trained as an accountant in London. He is also a fellow member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.

He provides strategic direction, control and advice on all financial matters within the force, responsible for Corporate Finance, Estates, Facilities, Fleet and Procurement.

Umar chairs the Ystadau Cymru (Estates Wales) working group, member of the Home Office National Commercial Board and Chair of the All Wales Police Procurement Board. He is a Governor of the Cardiff Metropolitan University and Chair of their Audit Committee.

Umar is heavily engaged in Police Collaboration and is the regional police lead for Finance in Wales.

In 2003 Umar completed the Police Senior Command Course.

In 2015 Umar was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and awarded an MBE.

In 2017 Umar completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy.

He is married with two grown up children.