Peter Vaughan BSc (Hons), Dip.App.Crim.
Chief Constable
Peter Vaughan joined South Wales Police in 1984, having achieved a BSc First Class (Management Science and Operations Research) from the University of Wales, Swansea. He also holds a Diploma in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge.
Peter is proud of having spent time at every rank in South Wales Police serving the communities where he grew up and still lives.
During the first part of his career he carried out a number of operational postings before taking the lead for Community Safety as a Superintendent. He then moved on to be Head of the Crime and Operations Policy Unit. He has commanded two separate BCU’s in South Wales both for a period of about 2 years, first in Merthyr Tydfil and then, as a Chief Superintendent at Rhondda Cynon Taff.
In 2003 he attended the Strategic Command Course, which is designed to develop the potential of individuals who have been identified as able to move to an executive role in the service. In December 2003 he took on the role of Assistant Chief Constable for Wiltshire Constabulary. During this period, as the only ACC in the force, he took on responsibility for all operational matters, leading the response to a number of high profile critical incidents.
In January 2007 he returned to South Wales Police as Assistant Chief Constable and took responsibility for the Communities & Partnerships portfolio. In April 2007 he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in South Wales Police. He was appointed Chief Constable of South Wales Police in July 2009 and took up post on 1st January 2010.
Since returning in 2007 he has led the development of Neighbourhood policing and brought a focus on understanding and delivering the needs of the diverse and vibrant communities of South Wales. He has developed an ethos of strong partnership working and is Chair of the Safer South Wales Group; a group designed to deliver strategic partnership solutions to shared problems. He is a trained Gold Commander and critical incident manager.
He is the Chair of ACPO Cymru and is Chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers Acquisitive Crime Portfolio, which provides advice and guidance for the service and partners and all aspects of acquisitive crime such as burglaries and vehicle crime. He is also Chair of the Home Office Threat Reduction Board for Acquisitive Crime.
He sits on the Public Service Leadership group, which has being established to provide national leadership for public service reform and collaboration, and to drive the pace of improvement in public services of Wales. As part of this group he has regional responsibility for the Cwm Taf area, bringing partners across agencies together to consider innovative and multi-agency collaborative solutions. He also represents South Wales Police on the All Wales Collaboration Board, which considers collaborative opportunities in policing across Wales.
Since 2007 the force has experienced an overall fall in crime of 30,000 offences annually, which is a 25 year low, an increase in the detection rate by 6.5% and the force has moved from 43rd out of 43 nationally for victim satisfaction to 7th.
He is a Trustee of the South Wales Police Youth Trust and an independent Member of the Cardiff University School of Social Sciences Advisory Board.
He is married with two children, enjoys keeping fit and is a keen rugby fan.