Kirk Dawes QPM (born ) is a former

Detective Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

with

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

who formerly ran The Centre For Conflict Transformation (TCFCT) formerly West Midlands Mediation and Transformation Services, a company involved in trying to reduce gun and gang violence in the United Kingdom.

Early life and police career

Born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...

, one of six surviving children of Caribbean immigrants. An early memory is of moving to a new house in a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshir ...

where most residents had signed a petition against black families moving in. Educated at Willenhall Comprehensive School he then joined West Midlands Police in 1976. After three years as an ordinary constable in

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2011 census of 28,480. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

, he moved into specialist units, initially the robbery squad from 1979 until 1981, then the special patrol group, then from 1985 the drugs squad, before joining Sutton Coldfield and

Castle Vale Castle Vale is a housing estate located between Erdington, Minworth and Castle Bromwich. Currently Castle Vale makes up the Castle Vale Ward of Birmingham City Council which is part of Erdington constituency (having previously been part of Hodge ...

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

in 1989 as a

. After the publication of the

Macpherson report Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 April ...

in 1995 he moved into training other CID officers in racial diversity issues. In 1998 he became the regional chairman of the Black and Asian Police Association. A lung condition curtailed his police career in 2004, and on 12 June 2004 he was awarded the

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 ...

(QPM) in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are pres ...

Mediation

After leaving the police he set up his company which mediates between principally Birmingham's gangs and others across the UK, and also tries to disengage youths from gang culture. His lung complaint also reduced his involvement in basketball, he played for the British police team and coached national league sides, and still uses basketball in his mediation work. He is also on the board of

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the co ...

. The work of Dawes and the WMMTS is regularly reported in the British media; he was a "witness" interviewed by the "Street Weapons Commission" organised by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and chaired by

Cherie Booth Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth ...

which in 2008 investigated youth violence in the United Kingdom; he has also appeared as a witness before the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, le ...

; and he is a regular conference speaker.

References

External links

Kirk Dawes AssociatesWest Midlands Mediation and Transformation Services
*https://web.archive.org/web/20120322185246/http://tcfct.org/ British police officers English people of Jamaican descent People from Wolverhampton Living people English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal 1957 births {{UK-law-enforcement-bio-stub