Alan Baldwin

I left policing in summer 2019, after 32 years, having served in five forces across the UK and in roles including detective, firearms officer, commander, and public order commander.

My career highlights include being a probationer at Greenham Common in the 80s amidst all the protest, being the neighbourhood policing inspector for the area where we lived in Worcestershire and leading response teams in inner-city Islington.

I was hugely privileged to be a detective in London and to be Borough Commander in Milton Keynes, where our home was and children grew up. I was also very fortunate to be a chief officer in both Thames Valley and Cambridgeshire.

I finished my service as Deputy Director of the Strategic Command Course and have assessed for fast-track, direct entry and the senior police and staff national assessment centres for the College of Policing. A former boss of mine and now chief in one of the largest forces once said to me “the legacy we leave behind as leaders is the quality of the people doing the job when we’ve gone”. This stuck with me from so many years ago when he said it and I have always tried to help people find their way through the service.

I had the idea of P2P (Practice to Progress – we love acronyms in the service) following assessing last year and thinking “wouldn’t it be good if people could practice this stuff”. I asked a few people their thoughts and their responses were so overwhelmingly positive that, well, here we are. It’s a pleasure and privilege to still be involved with policing and to have a chance to still make a bit of a difference.

I really believe this service could help everyone and also improve diversity of thought, experience and representation in policing and I’m delighted to have the chance to give it a go with you.