Christopher Peter Sims

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, QPM, DL is the former Chief Constable of

West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of ...

(WMP), England's second largest and the United Kingdom's third largest police force.

Police career

Sims began his policing career in 1980 with the Metropolitan Police force, rising to the rank of chief inspector. He moved to

Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of 11 local policing teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authoritie ...

in 1994 on promotion to superintendent. He worked in the professional standards unit, helped establish the performance development team, worked in CID at headquarters and spent a short time as divisional commander at

Wombourne Wombourne is a major village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Wolverhampton and on the border with the former West Midlands Co ...

before taking up the role of divisional commander at

Hanley Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...

. He left

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

in March 1999 to take up the role of Assistant Chief Constable for

. Sims was later appointed Deputy Chief Constable – a post he held for three years. During his time with West Midlands Police, Sims was seconded to

Nottinghamshire Police Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million. ...

to act as a strategic advisor. Before taking up his previous role as Chief Constable of Staffordshire in September 2007, Sims was the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policing Policy and Practice at the

National Policing Improvement Agency The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment. It was ...

(NPIA) based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was responsible for research and evaluation, doctrine development and implementation and portfolio management. Sims took up new responsibilities as Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 1 June 2009, and was paid a salary of £172,000 a year. He retired as Chief Constable of the force on 31 December 2015 and was replaced by Deputy Chief Constable Dave Thompson. Sims was awarded an

for services to the police in the 2003 New Years Honours List and a

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

for distinguished service in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Personal life

A graduate of St Peter's College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, Sims also achieved an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Warwick University The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of a ...

. Sims has three children.

Honours

Police Long Service and Good Conduct ribbon

* He also serves as a Deputy Lieutenant for the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of the West Midlands. This gives him the right to the Post Nominal Letters "DL" for Life.

References

External links

Chris Sims biography on WMP website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Chris Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Warwick Chief Constables of West Midlands Police Deputy lieutenants of the West Midlands (county) Officers of the Order of the British Empire English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Metropolitan Police officers Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people)