Chief Constable to give guest lecture

Chris Sims will talk about the role of the Chief Constable in the 21st Century at a free public lecture on Wednesday, 17 February 2010.

The event at 6pm has been organised by Politics Course Leader Mike Cunningham. He said: “It is a pleasure to welcome the Chief Constable to Wolverhampton. Policing is an issue which affects us all and Mr Sims' thoughts and insights will be of interest not only to the University community but the people of Wolverhampton in general."

The lecture will take place in MC001 at Wolverhampton City Campus.

Mr Sims took up the role of Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on June 1 2009.

He began his policing career in 1980 with the Metropolitan Police force, rising to the rank of chief inspector.

He moved to Staffordshire Police in 1994 on promotion to superintendent. He worked in the professional standards unit, helped establish the performance development team, worked in CID at headquarters and spent a short time as divisional commander at Wombourne before taking up the role of divisional commander at Hanley.

He left Staffordshire in March 1999 to take up the role of Assistant Chief Constable for West Midlands Police. Mr Sims was later appointed Deputy Chief Constable – a post he held for three years. During his time with West Midlands Police, Mr Sims was seconded to Nottinghamshire Police to act as a strategic advisor.

Before taking up his previous role as Chief Constable of Staffordshire in September 2007, Mr Sims was the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policing Policy and Practice at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) based in London. He was responsible for research and evaluation, doctrine development and implementation and portfolio management.

A graduate of St Peter’s College, Oxford, Mr Sims also achieved an MBA from Warwick University.

The University welcomed Sir Ian Blair, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, for a guest lecture earlier this month.

Further information

For more information please contact Vickie Warren in the Media Relations Office on 01902 322736