Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd has announced that he is leaving the PSNI to take up a more senior role in England.
Mr Todd confirmed he will be the next Chief Constable of Humberside Police after nearly three years in his current role within the PSNI subject to passing a confirmation hearing next month.
“I am incredibly humbled and proud to be offered the opportunity to become the next Chief Constable of Humberside Police,” he said.
“Everything I have seen and all the encounters I have had with officers and staff so far fill me with excitement at the prospect.
“I am looking forward now to getting stuck into the hard work ahead and getting to meet all my new colleagues.”
The former temporary Chief of Operations within West Midlands Police emerged as the preferred candidate for the top job following a recent selection process.
Mr Todd was appointed as PSNI Deputy Chief Constable on a temporary basis from October 2023 until December 2024.
Sharing the news on social media he said that he is “sad” to be leaving the PSNI and described it as an “absolute honour” to serve people in the region and work with some of the best colleagues in the world.
Posting on X, he said the last three years “have truly shaped me” adding “I’ll be eternally grateful for that”.
Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, Jonathan Evison, said he was delighted to confirm the selection procedure had concluded with Mr Todd being unanimously endorsed by the selection panel following a shortlist of three candidates.
“I would like to place on record my thanks to those supporting the selection process,” he added.
“Thank you for the time taken by those attending the stakeholder engagement sessions as well as to those that sat alongside me as part of the panel during the assessment day and helped me to make the final selection.
“The Chair of the Police and Crime Panel was an observer throughout the final selection process, however, the selection must be considered by the whole panel and the report by the independent member of the selection panel be considered before the appointment is confirmed.
“After a rigorous recruitment process, I am confident that Chris Todd has the experience, capability and ambition to continue to drive the Force forward on its journey of continuous improvement.”
Mr Evison said Humberside Police has established itself as the highest performing force in the UK, and secured an outstanding grading in the latest Peel report.
However, he conceded that the same inspection found that investigating crime “requires improvement’” which temporary Chief Constable Judi Heaton has been working to address.
“The force has been under excellent guardianship during Chief Constable Heaton’s leadership and I want to record my thanks to her for stepping into the role and providing the much-needed stability and support to the force,” Mr Evison said.
“The public have benefitted from improved performance during her tenure and I will be challenging Chris Todd to continue this trajectory for the force so that the public continue to see sustainable improvements in service.”
Mr Todd, who graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Birmingham in 1989, will now attend a confirmation hearing with the Humberside Police and Crime Panel in March.
After a brief stint in his chosen industry, Mr Todd joined the police in Hong Kong back in 1990 and worked in a number of roles there before specialising in counter-narcotics and returning to join West Midlands Police in 1996.
The officer was later seconded to the National Crime Squad as a Sergeant before transferring to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
He went on to become a Superintendent in the National Crime Agency where he led multi-agency national and global investigations focused on serious organised crime.
Mr Todd returned to West Midlands Police in 2014 on promotion to Chief Superintendent and commanded local policing units, the Intelligence Department, the Professional Standards Department and Counter Corruption.
During his career, he obtained a Masters degree in Cybercrime Investigations from the University of Central Lancashire.
After delivering the first data science capability for UK policing in West Midlands Police he was asked to take on the National Police Chief Council’s lead for Data Analytics and continues to hold that portfolio.
Mr Todd is also a Strategic Firearms Commander, Public Order Gold Commander, and CBRN Gold Commander.