Mel Thomas QPM

I am extremely honoured to be asked to be a part of the Practice to Progress program.
For nearing 4 years I have enjoyed the satisfaction of supporting candidates to be successful through Practice To progress.

Having retired from policing having served for 30 yrs with the Leicestershire Police I’m the Positive Action officer in recruitment supporting candidates from underrepresented groups to gain entry into the organisation.

I have had a wonderfully satisfying career as an officer having served in a number of specialist operational roles including the Tactical Support Group, Armed Response and the Tactical Firearms Unit and I’m now in a position to impart some of the experiences that I’ve had on officers of the future.

I am passionate about policing, that the organisation should represent the communities that they serve and that they should listen and learn from the communities.

I’m the vice chair of the forces Black Police Association and regularly advise and support individuals and the force in relation to matters of diversity and fairness.

My position as a Ground Hunter for the popular Channel Four series Hunted and Celebrity Hunted allows me to be a role model for individuals to be the best that they can be.

I know that we have good people out there that could develop and shape a better organisation for us all and Practice to Progress is a great way to support them in their ambitions.

We can’t change the past however what we can do is learn from it to make a better and more inclusive future for the service.