Neil Austin

I recently retired from policing as a Detective Superintendent having served for 30 years. I thoroughly enjoyed my time which was rewarding and satisfying, yet at times very challenging.

The majority of my career was with West Mercia Police, during which I worked in a variety of roles policing both rural and urban communities. In uniform, I worked in response, neighbourhood policing, custody and some strategic roles.

However, much of my career was spent as a detective working within the criminal investigation department, proactive teams and public protection teams. I was involved in the supervision of numerous serious and complex investigations and investigations into serious organised crime groups.

My last three years were spent on secondment as the project manager for the creation of a new national intelligence team named Opal which targets serious organised acquisitive crime across the United Kingdom. In addition to this, I was the strategic advisor to the national police lead for acquisitive crime.    

Throughout my career, I recognise partnership working is key, as Policing alone does not have all the answers. Building relationships and working closely with our communities, partner agencies and businesses have been crucial to delivering the best service to the public.

Throughout my career, the development of people has always been really important to me. I have successfully mentored and coached numerous people within policing for promotion and lateral development. In addition to this, I have been actively involved in recruitment into policing.

As I have a real passion for getting the best out of people, through support, coaching and mentoring, this opportunity to work with Practice to Progress is very exciting. It enables me to work with an organisation that has the same values and objectives. I look forward to this opportunity to assist in getting the right people into policing and support their progression throughout their careers.