Assistant Chief Constable retires

6:30pm Friday 5th September 2008

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ASSISTANT Chief Constable Peter Wright is retiring after 30 years with West Mercia Constabulary.

Mr Wright, 50, joined the force as a police constable in 1978, and has spent his entire career with West Mercia Constabulary.

After serving as a residential beat officer he took on a training role and a spell with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary before being promoted to Superintendent in 1994.

As a Superintendent he led the constabulary’s 2000+ programme and introduced the force’s four tracks of policing - local policing, partnership policing, responsive policing and targeted policing - and they remain central to the way policing services are delivered.

An experienced operational commander in firearms and civil contingencies he was selected to attend the national strategic command course in 2004 and was then appointed Assistant Chief Constable, of Territorial Operations, in February 2006.

More recently, he has been involved in the development of West Mercia’s initial policing learning and development programme, which has revolutionised the way student officers, community support officers and other new members of the force are trained.

His experience as a residential beat officer and a long serving West Mercia officer meant that he was ideally placed to lead the development of the force’s local policing programme in 2005.

The programme created 145 dedicated local policing teams that cover every part of West Mercia and offer communities the opportunity to influence policing priorities in their neighbourhood.

Mr Wright said: “I have had a very fulfilling career with West Mercia and enjoyed many highs during my time with the force.

“Being able to engage with communities and helping to sort out issues that affect them is one of the most enjoyable aspects of policing and is something I have carried with me throughout my career.

“Obviously every job has its downsides and being a police officer you see many terrible sights, but the cases that involve the death of a child are the most difficult to bear.”

Chief Constable Paul West said: “He has made a massive and vital contribution to the way in which West Mercia Constabulary works to serve and protect those who live in, work in and visit the force area.”

Paul Deneen, chairman of West Mercia Police Authority, added: “Peter has been a superb ambassador for the police service throughout his career with West Mercia and has shown great leadership, professionalism and dedication to the force.”