Craig Guildford | |
|---|---|
| Chief Constable of West Midlands Police | |
| Assumed office 5 December 2022 | |
| Preceded by | David Thompson |
| Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police | |
| In office 2017–2022 | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | British |
| Awards | QPM |
Craig Lewis Guildford is the chief constable of West Midlands Police,having begun his police career as a special constable with Cheshire Constabulary.
He obtained a degree in geography at the University of Derby,then joined Cheshire Constabulary as a police constable in 1994,having been a special constable there since 1992,while also a student. [1] [2] [3] He was made assistant chief constable at West Yorkshire Police in October 2012,and deputy chief constable with Gwent Police in April 2014. [1] [3]
He was appointed to the West Midlands on the 5 December 2022,having previously served as Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police since February 2017. [4] [1]
He is the National Police Chiefs' Council lead officer for professional standards and ethics,and complaints and misconduct. [2]
He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire and a member of the Army Reserve. [5] Serving in the Adjutant General's Corps,he was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant [6] and then almost immediately to captain in 2014. [7]
Guildford was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in June 2021 [8] and an honorary doctorate by the University of Derby in November that year. [3] [3]
In November 2024,he retired as Chief Constable of West Midlands Police for one month in order to protect his pension,which would otherwise have fallen in value after 30 years' unbroken service,before taking up the post again. Scott Green served as Acting Chief Constable in the interim. [9]
On 14 January 2026,the Home Secretary,Shabana Mahmood,declared in the House of Commons that she had no confidence in Guildford,following a select committee review of his force's advice to ban away fans from Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. game against Aston Villa in Birmingham on 6 November 2025. [10] An intelligence report compiled by West Midlands Police for the local safety advisory group contained errors,including the misrepresentation of information received from Dutch police about a previous match in Amsterdam. The report also mentioned a non-existent match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham. When appearing before a home affairs select committee,Guildford denied suggestions that AI had been used in writing the report and said that the fictitious match had appeared in a Google search. On 14 January 2026,he apologised to the home affairs select committee for having misled them,admitting that Microsoft Copilot,an AI tool,had generated the fictitious West Ham match. [10] [11]