Avon and Somerset appoints new assistant chief constable

She steps into the role following the retirement of Will White earlier this year and says she wants to “instil hope, confidence and trust”.

The force said the appointment followed a “rigorous selection process”.

Ms Shields started her policing career with Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Northern Ireland in November 1999 as a response constable.

The RUC transitioned to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) two years later, and Ms Shields went on to spend much of her career in Northern Ireland in detective roles at every rank within CID, including in rape crime, organised crime, CID and specialist investigations.

After almost 22 years of service in Northern Ireland, she made the move to Avon and Somerset Constabulary in September 2021 as a detective superintendent.

Within six months she was promoted to head of Investigations (now CID) in February 2022.

Ms Shields remained the Head of CID for two and a half years before completing an eight-month-long Executive Leadership Programme to further challenge and test herself.

Ms Shields said: “I applied to be assistant chief constable because I believe in the importance of policing, especially during times of instability and fear in our communities. I believe I have the experience and values needed to help shape the forthcoming years.

“I believe in this organisation and the people in it and I want to make sure the decisions we take support officers and staff to do their job well and get the support needed.

“I want to instil hope, confidence and trust. I will specifically seek to guide our efforts in improving our overall performance, be productive and impactful with the resources we have, support our anti-racism strategy and role model service leadership.”

She described her experience of moving to Avon and Somerset and transitioning to a different policing model and new systems as initially “disorientating”, however said she had been “welcomed with open arms” and everyone she had crossed paths with had treated her with kindness and patience.

From her time policing in Ireland, Ms Shields has experiences of fractured communities and working to heal divides, and she hopes the new role of assistant chief constable will help her to continue to build relationships between communities and the police officers who serve them and support trust and confidence in policing.

Chief Constable Sarah Crew said: “I’m really pleased to welcome Rachel to the chief officer group.

“It’s rewarding to see someone who so naturally aligned with our vision and values bring her wealth of experience to Avon and Somerset and go on to develop a depth of knowledge of the organisation, its people and our communities.

“I have great hopes for the impact that she will have in this new role both within the constabulary and with our partners and communities.”

Alongside her career, Ms Shields is a mother to two children and spends her time cheering them on from the sidelines of a hockey pitch, watching them play all over the country, a sport she used to play once as a child herself.