Salisbury Rotary Club > News > SALISBURY ROTARY WELCOMES THE CHIEF CONSTABLE

SALISBURY ROTARY WELCOMES THE CHIEF CONSTABLE

Members of Salisbury Rotary Club welcomed the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, Catherine Roper, as their guest speaker at the Club’s most recent meeting at The White Hart Hotel.

Catherine was appointed as Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police in February 2023, having served for nearly 23 years with the Metropolitan Police Service.

Having graduated Cardiff University with an LLB in Law and Politics, Catherine joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 2000, initially working in frontline policing in South London before qualifying as a Detective. Catherine’s career has spanned many areas in both the UK and overseas including tackling serious and organised crime; front line policing duties including BCU Commander of Camden & Islington; specialist intelligence development; human trafficking; professional standards; crime prevention, and leading several armed units including protection, surveillance and the Flying Squad.

In 2021, Catherine became the National Police Chiefs Council lead for the Children and Young Person portfolio across England and Wales. In this role, she has recently launched a new national strategy to ensure that policing is truly child centred. Catherine is also  Girl Guide Leader, and has also recently become a Girl Guiding Ambassador for the South West Region – something she is truly proud of.

 Her first task on being appointed as Chief Constable for Wiltshire Police was to address the fact that the force had been placed in ‘Special Measures’ in 2022, having been rated as the worst force in the country. This necessitated lots of changes in practice and the success was measured by the force coming out of ‘Special Measures’ in May 2024. Catherine’s objective for the nearly 2,300 strong police force in Wiltshire is to provide the ‘best possible policing service to the communities of Wiltshire’, and she emphasises that working closely with our communities is of fundamental importance for policing – and her – and an honour.

During her career, Catherine has successfully completed two Masters qualifications; is a Member of the Forward Institute; a Fellow of the Westminster Abbey Institute and a Graduate of the US International Visitor Leadership Programme.

News

Events