Wiltshire Police appoints new Assistant Chief Constable

By Ben Fitzgerald - 18 May 2020

CommunityAppointments

Wiltshire Police has appointed a new Assistant Chief Constable.
Detective Superintendent Deb Smith, who has worked for the Force for 21 years, has been confirmed as the successful candidate following an open and rigorous selection process.

She will replace one of our current ACCs Maggie Blyth, who is leaving Wiltshire Police to take up an ACC post returning to Hampshire Constabulary.

Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said: “I am delighted to announce that Deb will be joining our Executive Leadership Team as the ACC for Local Policing.

“I have known her and worked with her for many years and I know she brings with her a wealth of talent and experience, particularly given her previous role as Head of our Public Protection Department.

“I look forward to her continuing her career here in Wiltshire and taking our local policing approach from strength to strength.”

He added: “I would also like to say that despite my delight at Deb’s appointment, I will be very sad to say goodbye to Maggie.

“The Force has benefitted greatly from her leadership style and diversity of thought, and I am confident that Maggie will continue to excel in her onward career in policing. We all wish her the very best for future work in Hampshire.”

Supt Smith joined Wiltshire Police in 1999 and has carried out a number of different roles, including as a Community Safety Inspector and a Detective Chief Inspector within Volume Crime.

In May 2015 she was seconded to Operation Hydrant as the Deputy National Coordinator, before returning to Wiltshire in December 2016, where she took on the role of Head of Crime before becoming Head of Public Protection.

She is married to Sergeant Mark Smith, who retired from Wiltshire Police last year, and they have one daughter.

She said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed as Assistant Chief Constable in Wiltshire.

“Having worked for the Force for 21 years, I have immense pride in the organisation as we have tremendous people working for us.

“I am very much looking forward to continuing to work with our staff, partners and the public and further developing and overseeing the fantastic work that has been undertaken under ACC Blyth over the past 12 months.”

ACC Blyth joined Wiltshire Police last June, having previously worked at Hampshire Constabulary as the District Commander for Portsmouth.
Prior to this appointment Maggie worked as a public sector senior leader, holding roles nationally and locally with responsibility for youth justice, probation and child protection.

She said: “I am delighted to have been appointed back into Hampshire Constabulary. But I do want to say it has been a privilege to work in Wiltshire over the last year with so many fantastic officers and staff whose dedication to our communities is unfaltering.

“During the last year I have overseen the improvements to local policing and our specialist teams in firearms, roads and dogs, bringing our teams together to work more closely. Their enthusiasm for teamwork and dedication to tackling harm in our communities, has mean this has been a successful operation.

“We have the most excellent officers and staff at Wiltshire Police and I have been continuously impressed by the high levels of professionalism, dedication and expertise shown by all our teams, at all times and particularly through the current pandemic crisis.

“Thank you to everyone who I have worked with within policing in Wiltshire and across our different partnerships, your enthusiasm and support has been tremendous.”

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