Officer ‘privileged’ to have served region

A SENIOR West Wales police officer is standing down after serving for 30 years.

Deputy Chief Constable Darren Davies was born and brought up in the Dyfed-Powys Police force area, having begun his policing career when he joined the force in 1988.

He worked in Llanelli, Powys, Carmarthen, Ammanford and at force headquarters, before becoming the head of the Wales Extremism and Counter-Terrorism Unit in 2005.

In 2007 he spent two years in London working on the Prevent counterterrorism strategy.

He also chaired a National Working Group on surveillance between 2006 and 2015.

In 2009 he returned to Wales, working on regional collaborative units, and in 2014 became the lead of both serious organised crime and terrorism matters for Wales.

He returned to DyfedPowys Police in January 2017 as deputy chief constable, following a brief secondment to the Metropolitan Police Service as assistant chief constable and director of change for the counterterrorism network, also having a close involvement in collaboration on a national level across law enforcement.

Chief Constable Mark Collins said: “I have worked with Darren for over the last 20 years.

“I was delighted that he became my deputy chief constable. I would personally like to thank him for his commitment in working to improve policing across Dyfed-Powys for our communities. I wish him all the best in his retirement.”

DCC Darren Davies said: “It has been an absolute privilege to serve my last two years as a police officer as deputy chief constable within my home area, and I feel honoured to have had the benefit of working with countless committed and caring people, doing their very best to deliver a service to our communities, often in the most difficult circumstances.

“I leave with a heavy heart, but knowing that the force and therefore the public are in good hands, and I will watch with great interest as the force continues to improve.”