Warwickshire Police appoint new Temporary Deputy Chief Constable

Karen Manners was the Assistant Chief Constable for Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police, responsible for the Protective Services Directorate.

She will begin her new role today (Friday).

A process will shortly be held to appoint a substantive Deputy Chief Constable.

Current Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Lewis Benjamin will be leaving his role to take up a 12 month secondment within the Home Office where he will become the National Senior Police Lead for the Communications Capability Directorate.

Karen joined the strategic alliance of Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police as Assistant Chief Constable in June 2012. Prior to this she had served with Hampshire Constabulary for 23 years and the Metropolitan Police for three years.

During her career with Hampshire Constabulary she served in both uniform and CID roles and held portfolios in Child Protection and Serious and Organised Crime. She left Hampshire Constabulary having attained Head of CID.

After joining the alliance Karen became the National ACPO Lead for Child Neglect and Coronial Matters, driving the national agenda for child neglect and working with partners to transform how the forces deliver protection for vulnerable people.

Across her Protective Services portfolio she focused on a number of key priorities whilst chairing Warwickshire’s Local Resilience Forum and the Strategic Management Boards for both Warwickshire and West Mercia MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).

In 2014, Karen supported Chief Constable David Shaw as his Temporary Deputy Chief Constable for West Mercia Police.

During this period she led the centralised change programme and was responsible for the delivery of day to day operational business and Professional Standards.

Warwickshire Police Chief Constable Martin Jelley said: “On behalf of the force, I would like to congratulate both Karen Manners and Lewis Benjamin on their roles. Lewis has served with Warwickshire Police since 2006 and we wish him all the best during his secondment.

“Karen has acted as Temporary Chief Constable in the past and brings a wealth of experience to the new role. We are pleased to welcome her and are confident that she will continue to play an integral role in protecting people from harm.”