Chief officers

Brought up in North London and educated at Saint Ignatius College in Enfield, Ben-Julian - or ‘BJ’, started policing when he joined the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 1990 as a Police Constable in the then Chingford and Walthamstow Division of North East London. He brought with him experience working in Customs and Excise as well as having been a reserve soldier in the Parachute Regiment.

Serving for 27 years across London BJ worked in a variety of roles. As a response officer and then on the Territorial Support Group in North London, where he gained his first promotion to Sergeant in 1996. He subsequently worked through the ranks to Area Commander for North West London in October 2014.

With a firm base in operational policing, he led the Tottenham High Road and the Broad water Farm Estate team. He then proceeded to become Chief Inspector in Operations at Paddington Green. He held responsibility for the Secure Counter Terrorist Custody suite, oversaw the implementation of Safer Neighbourhood Teams and oversaw the policing of Millwall Football Club whilst serving as Superintendent in charge of Crime and Operations in Lewisham. Finally, as the Borough Commander for Camden he was able to work closely with communities, policing a diverse and complex part of the capital.

From the onset BJ had an interest in the policing of public order and during his time at the Metropolitan Police Service, he gained the position of Commander Public Order for London. He led many high-profile policing operations at every rank including Notting Hill Carnival, large scale protests, football matches and crime operations. In the summer of 2012, BJ worked as one of the Silver Commanders for the London Olympics and was also one of the National Counter Terrorism Commanders.

Having been seconded as Deputy Chief Constable to Essex in 2017, BJ took over as Chief Constable on 4th October 2018. BJ leads one of the largest non-metropolitan forces with over five and a half thousand officers, staff, and volunteers, within a force that comprises of many diverse challenges for modern policing. These include an extensive coastline with the major seaside town of Southend on Sea as well as international maritime ports in Thurrock and Tendring as well and Britain’s fourth busiest international airport. There is the significant garrison town in Colchester, a vast rural community, and many urban areas. Combined with the intricacies of bordering London, performing the role of Chief Constable of Essex Police is a complex and challenging role.

BJ has utilised his experiences gained whilst serving in the Metropolitan Police Service to great effect and has worked tirelessly on building community confidence within Essex. He has also sought to strengthen and develop multi-agency partnerships across a range of issues seeking to help the community, keep them safe and of course, catch criminals.

Overseeing the vast growth in the number of officer’s, staff and volunteers serving the Essex Community in recent years he has also been pivotal in supporting the modernisation of the forces IT capability to ensure a force that is skilled, equipped and enabled for the 21st Century.

He continues to lead, endorse, and enhance the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Strategy within Essex Police, which is reflected in the widely accoladed “We Value Difference“ Recruitment Campaign and gained a positive peer review by the College of Policing. As the Chief Officer lead and ally for the LGBTQ+ forum he is able to further support inclusivity

Having built a strong and capable command team BJ has ensured Essex Police has been able to deal effectively with a number of significant events such as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the tragic death of 39 migrants in a container lorry in Essex. The latter resulting in conviction and imprisonment of seven people for a total of over 92 years.

As the Chair of the Local Resilience Forum BJ coordinates collaborative working within the emergency planning arena across Southend, Essex, and Thurrock. He is also the Police National Lead for Public Order and Public Safety (NPOPS) which has recently found him as a member of the panel for the Joint Committee of Human Rights. He is also the president of the Essex Police Choir, Band and Sports Association

BJ has a Post Graduate Diploma in Police Leadership from Leicester University is also a graduate the Cabinet Office Leaders UK senior public service leadership programme. He is married to a former officer and has two teenage daughters and an annoying spaniel.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet started his policing career in 1996 at Thurrock, where he spent six years on the beat as a Police Constable in Corringham and Grays.

Following a promotion to Sergeant, he moved to Southend, where he undertook the roles of shift supervisor, custody officer and then led a proactive team to tackle local drug dealing, burglary, and street crime in the district.

Andy’s policing journey in the south of the county continued and, after a successful five years as a Detective Inspector on CID, he became a District Commander for the first time. After overseeing policing in Rochford, he headed back to Southend to do the same.

He has since served as Local Policing Commander for the south of the county, and for west Essex. During his time in the west of the county, he forged strong links with three bordering Metropolitan Police Service boroughs to tackle criminals travelling from London into Essex and vice versa.

In early 2017 Andy was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing and Public Protection.

In early 2020, he took on responsibility for the Operational Policing Command and Contact Management, leading on everything from the county’s Marine Unit to the Force Control Room. During this time, Andy has been the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for the policing response to anti-social behaviour and street homelessness.

Andy took on the role of Deputy Chief Constable in September 2021.

Outside work, Andy enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, playing cricket (by his own admission, increasingly poorly), cheering on Manchester United, and herding his three mad cats. His most important – and frequent – role is that of ‘Dad taxi’.

Rachel joined Essex Police in 1998 where she worked at Canvey Island and Rayleigh, before becoming a Sergeant there working at Benfleet and Rochford.  She then spent a year as part of the neighbourhood policing project team, delivering a different approach to policing local communities. Rachel has mainly worked on uniform based roles since.  In 2006 she was supported by local Rotary Clubs to spend time in South Africa and Lesotho learning about cultural differences and diversity in policing.

Rachel was promoted to Inspector in 2006 as the Staff officer to the Chief Constable and was then Inspector at Tilbury in 2007.

In late 2008 Rachel was promoted to Chief Inspector and spent six very enjoyable years at that rank taking up roles as District Commander at Thurrock, Basildon and lead for Roads Policing and the Dog section.    

As Criminal Justice Command Superintendent between 2014 to 2016, Rachel developed wider partnership working and change management skills.

In 2016 Rachel was promoted to Operational Policing Command as Chief Superintendent where she led various high-profile operations, including the first visit of the US President to the UK.  During this period Rachel helped to develop the Seven Force firearms training collaboration and led regional Roads Policing coordination as well as UAV training and operational initiatives with Essex Fire and Rescue.

Between September 2018 and January 2020 Rachel was seconded to the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) where she coordinated the operational policing response to Brexit preparations on behalf of NPCC leads, as well as developing the role of NPoCC to better support UK policing.

Rachel completed the Strategic Command Course in 2020, passing with distinction, before being successful in her application as Assistant Chief Constable (Local Policing and Crime & Public Protection) in April 2020. She currently has responsibility for Local Policing, Special Constabulary and our Local Policing Support Unit.

Rachel is a Gold Commander for public order and CBRN and is a strategic firearms commander.

Rachel has a BA (Hons) degree in English, Physical Education and Sports Science from Loughborough University.

In her spare time Rachel and her husband Paul, (a firearms instructor, also in Essex Police) are refurbishing their “dusty old farmhouse” and she also enjoy walking holidays, reading and improving her skiing.  Rachel has run the London Marathon four times and is keen on all types of sport.

Andy joined the Met Police in 1997. Working across different areas including uniform policing, public protection, and pro-active crime. Transferring to Essex Police as a Superintendent in 2016.

Andy has been a public order commander throughout his career holding command roles including Notting Hill carnival, New Years Eve and numerous premier league football grounds. He was on the command team for the 2012 Olympic Torch Security Operation, which saw him working with forces across the UK  and leading the security team throughout its journey to London.

Andy is Specialist Strategic Firearms Commander. He also holds Gold accreditations in Public Order, CBRNE and is Multi Agency Gold Incident Commander Trained.

Andy leads for Local Policing in Essex meaning he has responsibility for the Local Policing Teams across the county. These teams respond to priority matters and investigate neighbourhood crimes. He also leads our Community Policing Teams who work on more entrenched matters with a problem solving approach often with partners, this team also includes our Town Centre Teams. He also leads our Criminal Investigation Teams who deal with more complex investigations, and our Domestic Abuse Investigation Teams. Andy holds a number of force wide lead roles include Domestic Abuse, Children and Young People and Hate Crime. Andy’s teams also include our Rural Engagement Team, Business Crime Team and our incredible Special Constabulary, Cadets and wider volunteers and Active Citizens.

Andy lives in Essex with his wife and has five Children, when he does get some down time you can often see him jogging (slowly) around different parts of the county.

Having graduated from the Strategic Command Course in 2022, Andy was delighted to be appointed as one of our Assistant Chief Constables in January 2023.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Glen Pavelin began his policing journey in 1997.

Essex born, bred and educated, Glen joined policing as a Special Constable at 18 years old and served in Braintree Division. At 19 years old, Glen joined as a regular Constable and has served in uniform operational roles throughout his service.

As a Constable Glen served in Chelmsford, Maldon and Burnham in response and community roles.

Glen was promoted to Sergeant in 2003 and spent five years at that rank, serving across Central Division leading pro-active policing, community policing and response policing teams.

In 2008 Glen was promoted to Inspector and managed neighbourhood teams in Great Dunmow, Saffron Walden and Chelmsford Town Centre, and a response team in Chelmsford. He also delivered a change programme at Essex Police Headquarters.

Glen was promoted to Chief Inspector in 2011 and was District Commander of Basildon before working in the Local Policing Support Unit (LPSU) and then on to Operational Policing Command (OPC) where Glen became a Tactical Firearms Commander and Public Order Silver Commander. Glen also served as the Chief Inspector for the Force Control Room.

In 2016 Glen was promoted to Superintendent and performed the role of Operations Lead for the South Local Policing Area before moving to the Strategic Change Directorate at Essex Police Headquarters as Head of Operational Change, and then Deputy Head of Contact Management Command.

Glen was promoted in 2019 to Chief Superintendent as Head of OPC, where he became a Strategic Firearms Commander, Public Order Gold Commander and Multi-Agency Gold Incident Commander.

Career highlights for Glen include managing complex firearms incidents, large public safety events including football matches and the V Festival, presidential visits and firearms support to policing operations.

In his free time Glen enjoys sport including golf and spending time with his family.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Kevin Baldwin began his policing career in the Metropolitan Police Service in 1992.

Posted to Redbridge as a Constable for 6 years during which he became a trainee investigator before qualifying as an accredited Detective Constable in 1998 and moving to Hackney/Stoke Newington CID and then to the SCD Murder Teams. In 2002 he was promoted to Detective Sergeant and served at Bethnal Green on the Robbery Squad, CID and then as Proactive T/DI where he was later substantively promoted. Kevin then moved to SCD Child Abuse Investigation Teams as Detective Inspector for Hackney and Tower Hamlets Boroughs for 3 years before being promoted to Detective Chief Inspector and moving to Newham Borough in 2010 in charge of proactive CID. Kevin was the lead for the first ever Gangs Unit in the MPS, a role he revisited later in his career when he joined Trident as DCI qualifying as an SIO.

During this time he also became one of the first Met Detectives to qualify as a Public Order Commander using those skills as Match Commander and Public Order Commander for four seasons at West Ham United as well as policing public order events in London.

Kevin then worked across North East London leading a review team to improve performance before moving to Waltham Forest as Head of Crime before moving to the Trident Gangs Command as DCI for North East London responsible for the investigation of firearm offences and serious gang violence.

Born and bred in Essex it was fitting that in 2016 Kevin transferred to Essex Police on promotion as a Detective Superintendent on the South LPA. This was followed by a role as Head of Contact Management before moving back to the South LPA on promotion as Chief Superintendent LPA Commander.

In Jan 2020 Kevin moved to Crime and Public Protection as Detective Chief Superintendent before taking up the Temporary ACC role for Crime/Public Protection and Criminal Justice in June 2020. Kevin is a career Detective and is leading the Force response to Detective Development and Support. He is a Gold Commander and SFC.

Andrew Pritchard has taken up the position as Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) for the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Andrew was raised in Kent and joined Kent Police in 1996. He has spent all his policing career to date in one Force, having graduated in Birmingham and worked in the field of psychology services for a few years within the NHS prior to joining.

Accrediting as a detective in 2000, most of Andrew's career since has been as a detective with a side-line in hostage and crisis negotiation.

A specialisation in vulnerability policing has been a mainstay in Andrew's career since becoming a detective inspector in 2007, both on division and then in central strategic/operational roles with a brief hiatus as divisional commander for 2017/18.

Andrew enjoys the outdoors, cycling and being a career rugby player - but largely holds the whistle more these days.

Fiona takes up this role following the retirement of Dr. Vicki Harrington who left Essex Police in December 2022. Fiona’s role will be to continue all the great work already underway and to keep developing and improving our force to be even better.

Fiona previously worked for Suffolk Constabulary where she performed the role of Head of Corporate Improvement and Innovation. Fiona joined Essex Police in early 2023 and brings a wealth of experience in police leadership, data analytics, performance management and organisational improvement.  Fiona also brings new views and experience to add to the great things we are doing.

• the development and implementation of corporate people and learning strategies
• the delivery of learning and development
• recruitment and people resourcing
• operational and strategic human resources delivery
• occupational health services
• talent management and people development
• Performance Improvement Units

Jules is temporary ACO/Director for the Joint Support Services Directorate across Kent Police and Essex Police, overseeing a large part of our corporate functions, including:

• Finance
• IT
• Estates
• Procurement
• Transport
• Business Services

She is responsible for providing the strategic leadership to enable the delivery of high quality, effective services, standards, innovation and efficiencies across these key business functions, which are critical to supporting operational policing.

Jules joined Essex Police in 2005, having worked previously in private sector IT. Jules operated at programme director level for a number of force change programmes. She became Chief Information Officer for the joint IT Services department in 2014 and has delivered substantial modernisation of the technology platforms and infrastructure for both forces.

Jules is a deputy chair for the National Police Technology Council (NPTC), representing IT leaders for all UK police forces, and is the national IT lead for the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology programme. She is an advocate for the progression of women in senior support staff roles in policing and was a finalist for UK female Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the year in 2020. She is a trustee for a local Essex and Kent charity supporting people with drug addiction issues.