Wiltshire Police Chief Constable announces intention to retire

The Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, Kier Pritchard, has today announced his intention to retire from his role at the end of his thirty years of service in June 2023.

Kier, who has been Chief Constable since March 2018, said: “I have served with Wiltshire Police for my entire career. The opportunity to lead this Force as Chief has been the greatest privilege of my professional career.

 "It really has been an honour serving the communities of Wiltshire. This county is very close to my heart - it is my home, it is where my family have grown up, and it is also where I followed in the footsteps of my late father in joining Wiltshire Police at the age of 19 in 1993. Taken together, we have provided over 60 years of continued public service.

"It has always been my intention to retire at 30 years' service so that I can look to the next stage of my life with my family. At this point I will have served as Chief Constable in Wiltshire for over five years.

"Policing is such a rewarding and unique career. Each and every day I am inspired by what my officers, staff and volunteers do to serve and protect our communities and I am incredibly proud of their achievements.

"I would like to thank the public and our partners for their continued support for policing in our county – and I would also like to thank those who I have served alongside over the years, together with those who will go on to continue to serve the public of Wiltshire in the future.”

Chief Constable Pritchard has dedicated his entire policing career to Wiltshire.  Throughout his service he has held the position of Detective in each rank, culminating in leading the Force response to major and serious crime as the Detective Chief Superintendent between 2011 – 2014, where he also held national responsibilities through the Homicide Working Group.

As one of the longest serving Chief Constables in the recent Force history, Kier started in post on 5 March 2018 - coinciding with the declaration of a major incident further to the Salisbury Novichok nerve agent attack. This proved to be the largest major incident the Force and local partners had experienced and dominated global news for many months.

As the Chair of the Local Resilience Forum in the county, Chief Constable Pritchard has guided partner agencies and the Force through the challenges of many major incidents, including the policing response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kier concludes: "I remain fully committed to leading the Force between now and my departure in 2023.

"There is still a great deal to do as we seek to deliver service-wide improvements arising from the recent HMICFRS PEEL inspection programme. Whilst solid progress is being made, I remain resolutely focused on continuing with our programme of improvement and supporting the Police and Crime Commissioner in the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan."

The Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible for the recruitment of the next Chief Constable.