Following the appointment of Chief Constable Kier Pritchard in
January, the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) has appointed Simon
Dobinson as their new Deputy Chief Constable.
Simon has been with the MDP since November 2024, previously
holding the rank of Assistant Chief Constable for Territorial,
Crime and Support. During his time in this role, Simon was
instrumental in building key relationships across Defence,
supporting the prioritisation of policing and security assets in
support of homeland security.
Simon has had a varied policing career split between the MDP,
Essex Police, the Metropolitan Police and Sussex and Surrey
Police, serving in specialist and community-related policing
roles at all levels.
During his career Simon has specialised in hostage negotiation;
public order policing; and, in armed policing, as a firearms
officer and chief firearms instructor. He has held several
firearms command roles.
As a chief officer in the Metropolitan Police Service, Simon had
responsibility for the security portfolio, delivering the Protect
strand of the government's CONTEST strategy and aviation security
covering London airports. Simon also held organisation-wide
responsibility for the Met's estate and physical security
strategy as well as being their lead for Chemical, Biological,
Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN).
In 2022 Simon transferred to the Sussex Police in a collaborative
role with Surrey Police, with responsibility for specialist
uniformed operational support across both forces involving armed
policing, public order, dogs, roads policing, emergency planning
and local resilience. Simon was Senior Responsible Officer for
multiple programmes of work to improve operational effectiveness
and efficiencies across both forces as well as being Chair of the
Joint Force Legitimacy Board scrutinising use of police powers
and Chair of county level road safety partnerships and the Sussex
Local Resilience Forum.
In addition to his core roles, Simon has been the National Police
Chiefs' Council portfolio lead for aviation security and airport
policing, working with commercial, governmental and law
enforcement partners to improve the coordination, communication
and consistency of cross-service collaboration in relation to
protective security and policing of airports and general
aviation.
Simon is a proud member of the Forward Institute which is a body
made of up public, private and voluntary sector senior leaders
who are passionate about pursuing the agenda of responsible
leadership and the development of leaders both in and outside of
policing. Simon is committed to driving change in organisational
culture and has been a senior sponsor within the Met, Surrey and
Sussex Police for leading work in support of improving
inclusivity, diversity and equality.
Simon holds a Master's degree in Risk, Crisis and Resilience
Management.
Upon his new appointment as MDP DCC, Simon comments:
I am honoured to take on the role of Deputy Chief Constable of
the MDP, a Force that is truly unique in providing specialist
policing to defend Defence and protect the homeland. Having
served as Assistant Chief Constable, I have witnessed first-hand
the dedication and professionalism of our officers and Civil
Servants. I look forward to continuing to support the MDP in
delivering the highest standards of policing to protect our
nation's assets, infrastructure and personnel.
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said:
Simon brings extensive experience from across his policing
career, and I am confident that he will continue to play a key
role in strengthening the MDP as we enhance our capability to
support Defence, foster a positive culture, and achieve our
strategic objectives.
