Annual Police Technology Round Table – delivering change at pace

Assistant Chief Officer Hacer Evans is the Director of the Digital Policing Portfolio. The Digital Policing Portfolio is responsible for developing and delivering digitally enabled enhancements to National Policing across four major Programmes of work. Digital Public contact enhances the way the public and police communicate with each other; Digital Investigations and Intelligence uses technology to modernise UK policing’s digital intelligence and investigation capabilities; Digital First is integrating digitised policing into wider Criminal Justice System reform and Digital Mobility seeks to maximise the opportunities mobile technology can deliver across the policing landscape. Hacer graduated from King’s College London with a BSc (Hons) and has gone on to have a career in policing with 23 years’ service to date, beginning in the field of Forensic Science at Thames Valley Police. In 2001 she transferred to British Transport Police and held various leadership positions as Head of Forensic Science, and Head of Profession for Justice and Forensic Science. Whilst in this role, Hacer successfully delivered the National CCTV Strategic Alignment Programme across BTP and Network Rail for the London 2012 Olympics. In 2013 Hacer passed the Senior Police National Assessment Centre, and successfully completed the Strategic Command Course, preparing police officers and staff for the most senior ranks in the service. Hacer transferred to Sussex Police in 2015 as Assistant Chief Officer, taking up the national digital policing role. She has recently graduated from the Cabinet Office Major Projects Leadership Academy at Oxford University. Hacer is married with one daughter and is passionate about gender equality in technology. She is an ambassador for STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics bringing the opportunities in these fields to life for young people. She is an advocate of mentoring and in championing policing as a career.

Jo Farrell began her police career over 25 years ago in Cambridgeshire Constabulary. She transferred to Northumbria Police in 2002 where she progressed to the rank of Assistant Chief Constable. Jo joined Durham Constabulary in November 2016 as Deputy Chief Constable and has contributed to the force’s continued outstanding performance. She was appointed Chief Constable of Durham in June 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the post in the force’s 180-year history. On a national level, she works on behalf of the National Police Chiefs Council in the areas of information management, criminal justice file quality and supports the Crimestoppers charity. CC Farrell is married to a retired police officer and has two stepsons and a daughter. Away from work, she enjoys family life, cooking and keeping fit.

Nick is a consultant operating in the police technology and training sector, advising organisations large and small on how to thrive and succeed in what can be a complex and difficult market. His background was in policing where he worked in several police forces and organisations at all ranks for almost 3 decades. He became closely involved in the delivery of technological digital capabilities in policing during his time as the Chief Executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency, where he led the national Information Systems Improvement Strategy and the roll-out of the Police National Database. He is currently supporting work to improve the interoperability of police systems.

Martin Hewitt is the Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. From 1993 to 2005, Martin served in Kent Police where he undertook a number of roles with a focus on detective posts in both crime and counter terrorism. Martin joined Metropolitan Police Service in 2005, and after being the first head of the newly formed Met Intelligence Bureau, served in the ranks of Commander and Deputy Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for gangs, organised crime and specialist crime investigation. As Assistant Commissioner, Martin was responsible for frontline policing across London, includes local policing and specialist crime commands. He was also the NPCC lead for both adult sexual offences and kidnap and extortion. Prior to his police service, Martin spent seven years as a Commissioned Officer in The Royal Artillery. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal in the 2014 Birthday Honours. Martin lives in London and is married with four children.

Professor Shane D. Johnson directs the Dawes Centre for Future Crime at UCL. He has a PhD and an MA in psychology and a BSc in computer science. His work has been funded by various UK research councils, charitable trusts, the Home Office, police forces, and through the U.S. Department of Defense Minerva Initiative. He has published over 130 articles and currently has a particular interest in future crime. He is a member of the Home Office’s Scientific Advisory Council and received a Chief Constable’s Commendation for his contribution to the College of Policing’s Crime Reduction Toolkit

Toby leads the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism’s transformation of mission-led innovation for public safety and security with digital technology and data. He co-founded ACE, the UK’s Accelerated Capability Environment, a Home Office-sponsored partnership between industry, academia and government, to push smart technologies and skills to the front line of law enforcement with operational tempo. He brings industry experience from the national security and resilience sector, combined with public policy development including legislation for investigatory powers and telecommunications regulation and compliance. His professional background is in systems engineering and computer science.

Niel’s career began as an apprentice radio technician and culminated in him being appointed in 2011 as the Director General for Technology at GCHQ, the UK's intelligence, cyber and security agency – the most senior cyber technologist position in Government.
At the heart of British intelligence, he was responsible for science and technology, from blue-sky research and innovation through system development, to operational support and management. He was at the forefront of GCHQ’s success in developing and deploying operational data analysis technologies to the frontline of the intelligence and cyber security missions. Niel retired from Government service at the end of 2018 and is now pursuing his second career in the private sector.

John works with CEOs and senior leadership teams across sectors to help them solve their issues and/or improve their leadership skills. His first career was as an international corporate executive, living in Sweden, the Netherlands, Singapore and finally the USA, culminating in a position as Corporate Vice-President of a Fortune 100 company. On returning to the UK he was appointed a main-board director of a FTSE100 company. At the age of 40 he took a new path as an entrepreneur founding 8 companies. Two of those companies failed, four have been sold and two are leaders in their field. In 1998, while CEO of an IT company he had founded, he trained as a professional coach and facilitator for his own personal development, and as a result increasingly became involved in working with other CEO’s and senior leadership teams across all sectors to help them both solve their issues and improve their leadership skills. In 2003, John started his third career when he co-founded LeaderShape Global to create data analysis and methodologies towards developing the kind of leader needed for the 21st century. These programmes have now been accredited up to Master’s Degree level. As Chairman, John continues to work with senior leaders to help them towards overcoming their challenges and improving their leadership. He is the author of many publications including three books, the latest of which “Leading Beyond The Ego: How to Become a Transpersonal Leader” was published by Routledge in 2018. This textbook has been endorsed by many thought leaders and has already become required or recommended reading at business schools. He has lectured at a number of universities in the UK and overseas, including Oxford University. Over a number of years, he has been Chair or Director of several public-private partnerships in Oxfordshire and is currently a director of Oxfordshire Business First. He received his honours degree from Loughborough University in Chemical Engineering and completed the Advanced Management Programme at Columbia University (NY) whilst a VP of Combustion Engineering. He is a fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators. He is a past-Fellow of the Institute of Directors and Chartered Management Institute. John does not claim to be an expert in police matter but is familiar with the key challenges facing the police, especially leadership issues, through dialogue with senior police leaders over a number of years, and more recently as an associate of Cityforum.

Laura Manley is the inaugural Director of the Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project at the Harvard Kennedy School. Led by former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the project aims to steer rapid technology-driven change in directions that serve net, long-term public good. Laura is also a Senior Consultant for the World Bank Group and the United Nations. Previously, Laura co-founded the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) in Washington DC, where she worked with over a dozen U.S. federal agencies on their data management strategies and with eight national governments on their IT modernization efforts. Laura also teaches at New York University and the Harvard Extension School.

Tony is responsible for AWE’s sizeable technology change portfolio that is focused on modernising and bringing new capability to AWE. He is also accountable for all aspects of security at AWE; physical, personnel and information security. Prior to joining AWE, Tony was the Business Transformation Director at the Musgrave Group. Before that he was CIO and Board member at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Tony has over 30 years’ experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked for Friends Provident, Clear Channel International, British Airways, PepsiCo, Safeway Stores and The BOC group. Tony has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Surrey University and an MBA from Kingston Business School. In his spare time Tony is a skydiving coach. He also enjoys spending time with his three children, beekeeping, cooking and running marathons.

Angus is the Chief Digital and Technology Officer of the Metropolitan Police Service, (MPS), with responsibility for digital policing, shaping the digital future of the met, leading on the Digital Experience he is also a member of the MPS Management Board. Angus is ’Environmental Champion for the Met’ ensuring that MPS deliver targets aligned to the strategic environmental objectives. He is a non-Executive Director for Housing Solutions, a housing association based in Maidenhead. Previously Angus worked at BG Group, an oil and gas exploration Company operating across 25 countries, where he held a number of positions including Global CIO, Operations Director of one of the largest gas utilities in the Americas, Senior Vice President Transmission and Distribution responsible for overseeing a number of utility companies across the globe, Head of Global HR Operations, Head of Investment appraisal. Prior to BG Group Angus was in the Merchant Navy. Angus has significant general management experience across a number of key disciplines and has operated at Executive and Board level for a number of companies / subsidiaries. Born in Northern Ireland, Angus spent some of his childhood in Pune, India and with BG Group has lived and worked in Argentina and Iran. He is married with three grown up children.

Carl is a technology author and researcher. His first book is The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab. An examination of the new centres of power and control in the twenty-first century, it was published by Penguin Random House in August 2018. In 2012 he co-founded the first UK think tank institute dedicated to studying the digital world at Demos, and has written for the Economist, Wired, New Scientist, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London.

Deputy Chief Officer - Corporate Services, Strategy and Change Deputy Chief Officer David Page is responsible for the delivery Corporate Services, Strategy and Change in Police Scotland. Before joining Police Scotland in 2016, DCO Page began his career in the British Army serving in Military Intelligence for ten years before leaving to join the Financial Services sector in Scotland. He has held senior Director, Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer roles across a number of businesses including The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life. He has significant experience of successfully designing, delivering and embedding, technology led, strategic organisational transformation programmes across a number of different businesses in the UK and abroad.

With more than 35 years in ICT, 25 of them in police ICT, Wayne is highly experienced in successfully delivering high-profile ICT and digital transformation programmes, including the alliance between Warwickshire and West Mercia. During this he gained experience in business support services, finance and corporate communications as well as ICT. As a fervent supported of the police service and a strong advocate of how technology can improve policing, Wayne has been actively involved for many years in the development of the National Police Technology Council (NPTC), which he now chairs.

Andy joined the National Crime Agency in November 2015 as DD Live Services after spending 24 years in the Royal Navy, travelling the world and working on numerous weapon systems and technology of all sorts. During his time as a Deputy Director at the NCA, he has established the Live Services team and has been involved in a range of technology programmes. He is currently the Interim CIO for the organisation.

Commissioned in the British Army in 1991, Brigadier Sara Sharkey has served in a broad spectrum of command, communications and training roles in the UK, overseas and on Operations in Bosnia and Iraq. Electronic Warfare has been a major thread of her career with Troop and Squadron Commander appointments at 14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) and as the desk officer in Director Equipment Capability ISTAR for Land Based EW. Command of 10 Signal Regiment, with a diversified capability set, including Electronic Counter Measures, Infrastructure and HQ Support and UK Operations Communications encompassed a stimulating breadth of command and niche capability elements. Brigadier Sara Sharkey was responsible for the Army’s Software House from 2013-2017 and transformed (through implementing Agile methodologies) the delivery and support of applications and services to deliver business intelligence to the Army. She also had a wider remit for the governance and coherence of Army applications across the full Information Environment embracing firm base through to deployed operations at the tactical level. In April 2017 she was promoted to Brigadier and assumed the appointment of Head Application Services and DevOps at Information Systems and Services (ISS) within the Joint Forces Command. This role spans a wide portfolio to deliver unified Cloud hosting services to Defence, in-service delivery of key Command and Control applications and the delivery of new application services for Medical, Education, Identity, and Air and Maritime Platforms. Brig Sharkey is also the Army advocate for Women in STEM, is a member of the Royal Signals Institute Council and President of Royal Signals Hockey. She is married to a serving officer with two daughters (age 6 and 7) and a large Labradoodle called Oscar.

Richard heads up Chaucer Digital within the Chaucer Consulting Group and has responsibility for the Central Government, Technology and Financial Services sectors. Richard spent 21 years at Ford Motor Co and was the CIO for Ford of Europe for over five years. In a later move to UBS, Richard worked for five years as CIO of the Global Asset Management Division. More recently, Richard was CIO for the Metropolitan Police Service in London for two years where he helped transform their Technology strategy and implement tablet devices for front-line officers to record crime and witness statements. He is currently leading the Home Office’s Law Enforcement Landscape Mapping Team providing oversight for 16 National Policing Technology Programmes. In 2018 he was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Management Consultants Association Digital and Technology Consultant of the Year awards.

Once a civil engineer, Chris switched to a career in law enforcement by joining the Royal Hong Kong Police in 1990. Having specialised in international counter narcotics work, he returned to the UK and joined West Midlands Police (WMP) in 1996 and has spent most of his career since as an operational detective or intelligence officer. This has included time away from mainstream policing with the National Crime Squad, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the National Crime Agency. Chris carries a number of portfolios in addition to his day job as Head of Professional Standards for West Midlands Police. Amongst these was to lead a transformation project delivering a ‘Data Driven Insights’ capability for WMP which in turn has resulted in his appointment as Data Analytics lead for the National Police Chief’s Council, Intelligence portfolio. With another of his portfolios being ethics, Chris is particularly interested in the ethical development of technologies to assist policing.

In October 2012, Sir Thomas was appointed as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary. He is the first holder of that office to come from a non-policing background. In July 2017, he was appointed as the first ever Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services. Sir Thomas graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1979 and is a lawyer admitted to practise in both Scotland and England and Wales. In private practice, he specialised in complex commercial projects, finance, public law and the design and operation of economic and safety regulatory systems for essential public services such as energy, water and transport. He was a partner in major commercial law firms in the City of London. Between 1999 and 2004, Sir Thomas was the Rail Regulator and International Rail Regulator, the economic regulatory authority for the railways in Great Britain. Between October 2010 and March 2012, Sir Thomas carried out a review of the pay and conditions of service of police officers and police staff in England and Wales. The review was carried out at the request of the Home Secretary and was the most comprehensive for more than 30 years. It recommended the replacement of pay scales based on time service with a system of pay advancement according to skills and contribution, direct entry to the police at senior ranks, fitness testing and the replacement of the statutory apparatus for the determination of police pay. Legislation to implement a significant proportion of Sir Thomas’s recommendations was passed in March 2014.