Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Daniel Richards

Daniel Richards is a career detective who joined South Wales Police in 1995 and commenced his service in Llanedeyrn Sector of Cardiff before joining St Mellons CID in 1998.

After serving as a uniform response and Detective Sergeant in the Cathays Sector, he was promoted to Detective Inspector in the City Public Protection Unit in 2003. During this period he had oversight of the establishment of the first domestic abuse MARAC process in the UK. 

In 2004 he transferred to Cardiff Central CID before joining Specialist Crime in 2005 as the DCI Scientific Support Unit. He joined Major Crime Investigation Team as a PIP3 SIO in 2007, and led the investigation of a number of high-profile homicide cases.

In 2009 he commenced a 14-month secondment to the British Police Team in Iraq, delivering SIO training in Baghdad, Basra and Kurdistan before returning to Cardiff as a DCI. He subsequently spent two years in the Uniform Operations and Partnerships Superintendent roles in the city.

In December 2014 he joined the Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) before taking command as Detective Chief Superintendent of both WECTU and the Southern Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU).

In February 2018 he was appointed as Head of Specialist Crime in South Wales Police, which carried overall responsibility for the Major Crime, Scientific Investigation, Public Protection, Intelligence and covert policing activities for the force.

Following a seven-month spell as Assistant Chief Constable for crime, he took command of the force Professional Standards Unit. During this period he delivered Operation Ninian, a pioneering internal programme which was aimed at raising standards of professional behaviour via engagement with junior supervisors. Operation Ninian is now recognised nationally as best practice.

In August 2022 he returned to Cardiff as BCU Commander, before commencing a second posting as Assistant Chief Constable in April 2023. He was the Operational Commander who led the policing response to the Ely riot on the night of the 22-23 May 2023. He is currently responsible for the territorial policing agenda, which includes Neighbourhood Policing.