The appointment was made after the current chief constable of Warwickshire Police was selected to lead the National Crime Agency (NCA) from “a field of strong candidates”.
Commenting on the decision, Home Secretary Theresa May said: “I’m delighted to announce Keith Bristow as the new head of the National Crime Agency. For too long we have lacked a strong, collaborative national response in the fight for criminal justice. The NCA will make the UK a more hostile environment for serious and organised crime and strengthen our border.”
The Home Secretary added: “In his new role, Keith Bristow will develop an agency of powerful operational crime fighters who will ensure those who commit serious and organised crime are tracked down, pursued and brought to justice. Keith will be the NCA’s first operational head and will play a vital role in developing the new agency.”
Bristow himself commented: “The NCA will protect communities and individuals from harm by tackling serious, organised and complex crime. In partnership with other law enforcement agencies we will ensure that criminals are identified, pursued and brought to justice, their groups dismantled and their activities disrupted. We will do even more to strip away their illegally obtained assets.”
The new organisational leader suggested that officers and staff from existing agencies who will become part of the NCA are already working hard to tackle serious, organised and complex crime and new approaches and capabilities will become operational before 2013 to cut crime and protect our borders.
Bristow concluded: “I shall be working closely with chief constables, leaders of other law-enforcement organisations, Police Authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners and the Government to ensure that the NCA delivers the maximum protection possible for communities within the resources it has available.”
Keith Bristow: a career history
Keith Bristow was appointed chief constable of Warwickshire Police in 2006. He joined West Mercia Constabulary as a police cadet, serving through to the rank of detective chief inspector in a range of uniform and specialist posts.
In 1997, he was appointed as staff officer to the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The following year he was selected for promotion to superintendent and seconded to the West Midlands Police Major Investigation Team.
Bristow subsequently transferred to West Midlands Police performing the roles of Operations Manager and Director of Intelligence, and as a Chief Superintendent, he was the Commander of an Operational Command Unit in Birmingham.
In 2002, Bristow was selected for promotion to assistant chief constable and appointed as director of the UK National Criminal Intelligence Service with responsibility for Regional Intelligence Units and national and international intelligence on serious organised crime threats such as drugs, firearms and kidnaps.
In 2005, he was appointed as the deputy chief constable of Warwickshire Police.
Bristow is chairman of the G8 Law Enforcement Group that works to support G8 member states in tackling transnational organised crime. From 2009 to 2011 he was head of crime for ACPO having previously held the Violence and Public Protection portfolio and the Criminal Use of Firearms portfolio.
He’s a graduate of the European Top Senior Police Officer Course and has a Masters Degree in Organisational Development, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management Studies and a Diploma in Applied Criminology.
Bristow was honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for 2008 with the Queen’s Police Medal.
Comment from the ACPO president
Speaking about Bristow’s appointment, ACPO president Sir Hugh Orde said: “We congratulate chief constable Keith Bristow on his appointment as head of the new National Crime Agency. Under his leadership, the NCA offers law enforcement agencies and the police an opportunity to raise their game against some of the most dangerous and harmful criminals in the UK. A better co-ordinated response between the international reach and capability of this new agency and the ‘eyes and ears’ of local neighbourhood policing teams can help keep our streets and communities safer.”
Sir Hugh added: “Keith Bristow came through a very strong field of police leaders for this job, and has a background as national lead on crime for ACPO, chairman of the G8 law enforcement group and director of the National Criminal Intelligence Service. This appointment gives the new agency the strong leadership it needs to build towards becoming effective and fully operational by the end of 2013.”
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