Chief Officers

Prior to joining Derbyshire Constabulary Simon spent most of his service with Northamptonshire Police, joining in 1989. He worked his way through the ranks, holding a number of senior command positions including Operations, Community Policing, Crime and Intelligence portfolios.

In 2014, Simon was seconded to the United Nations as their Senior Police Adviser in Iraq. He worked with Iraqi military and police on security for the national elections. Later evacuated to Kurdistan due to the ISIS incursion, he also supported the development of the Kurdistan Police.

He transferred to New York in 2015 where he served as Chief of Mission Management for the UN Police Division, with oversight of the UN Police components in peacekeeping missions worldwide. 

In 2016 he became the UN Police Commissioner in Liberia, leading a multinational team ensuring peaceful elections, the protection of civilians and helping to shape the Liberian National Police, Immigration Service and Drug Enforcement Agency in readiness for the UN's withdrawal of its peacekeeping assets.

Returning to Northamptonshire Police in 2018, Simon was awarded an OBE for services to international and UK policing.

Simon was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) in 2019, and then became Temporary Deputy Chief Constable in May 2022.

In his new role here in Derbyshire, Simon is responsible for the implementation and delivery of the force's Delivery Plan, the Chief Constable’s vision and strategy and the day to day running of the force. He is the strategic lead for operational policing, with accountability for the policing response to crime and major and critical incidents, and its effective command and leadership.   

Simon is also the lead for performance, HMI, discipline, and culture. He directly line manages both Assistant Chief Constables and the Heads of Corporate Services, Professional Standards, HR, IS and Communications and Engagement. He also works closely with Federation, Unison and staff networks.

Simon is an accredited Strategic Firearms Commander, Gold Public Order and CRBN Commander with extensive operational experience, including being a Gold Commander for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

As Assistant Chief Constable for Derbyshire Constabulary Michelle Shooter is responsible for Local Policing, Contact Management and Operational Support.

Michelle’s career at Derbyshire began as a police staff member working in Criminal Justice, she became a Special Constable finally joining the regular force in 1999.

Michelle has a strong operational background in Firearms, CBRN and Public Order along with Multi-Agency Gold Incident Command and is experienced in delivering forcewide change and managing projects, with a passion for seeking improvements in the way the force delivers service. Michelle has been involved in a number of high-profile events and initiatives which have continued to develop experience, such as policing the Olympics, high profile royal visits and the dam breach at Whaley Bridge.

Michelle is the East Midlands Regional Lead for Public Order, CBRN and Citizens In Policing.      

In May 2022 Michelle was successful at the Police National Assessment Centre and also successfully graduated from the Strategic Command Course.

Michelle is married, has a dog called Archie, loves walking and watching any kind of sports or a good film.

James joined Derbyshire Constabulary in September 2022 on secondment and temporary promotion from South Yorkshire Police as the Assistant Chief Constable responsible for Crime and Criminal Justice. Having joined the police service in January 1996, he has worked as a detective at every rank, performing a number of roles within CID, major crime, intelligence, serious and organised crime and covert policing.  

James was promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent as Head of Crime in 2016, which followed a period of temporary promotion as the District Commander for the city of Sheffield. Prior to joining Derbyshire, James was the District Commander for Barnsley. For several years, James also chaired the Yorkshire and Humber Threat Reduction Group for Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking and Organised Immigration Crime.

He is an experienced Gold Commander, Strategic Firearms Commander and PIP 4 Strategic Investigator. As a Detective Superintendent, James worked as a PIP 3 Senior Investigating Officer with the Major Incident Teams, led specialist crime operations as the Director of Intelligence and Crime Operations, and worked locally with partner agencies as the Operations Superintendent at Sheffield West. He holds a MSc in Police Science and Management and a BSc (Hons) Business Studies.

Andrew's career in policing started in 1993 when he joined Derbyshire Constabulary as a trainee fingerprint officer and trained in this role for five years to achieve expert status. In 2012 EMSOU-FS was created and Andrew, through various promotions, achieved the top post of Director of Forensics. During the Philpott trial, he gave crown court evidence. He later acquired the snappy title of Director of Corporate, Forensic and Technical services when he went into EMSOU command.

However, in February 2023, he went back to his roots and got his 'dream job' in his dream force and became the Assistant Chief Officer in Derbyshire. Andrew looks after many things in the force including HR, Information Services, Fleet, Estates, Finance and has recently set up Digital Data and Technology (DDat). He is also the NPCC lead in disabilities in policing and is the voice on command for police staff.

Away from work, Andrew is a huge fan of music - liking genres of all sorts ranging from indie to goth and has been to see The Prodigy six times! He is also a family man, with three children, a wife and two dogs called Hugo and Cooper. A Derbyshire man, Andrew was born in Clowne and loves Derbyshire with Chesterfield as a firm favourite. He is also a 'mad' football fan, supporting Arsenal and coaches an under 13s football team every week.

Andrew believes that happiness is the most important aspect to life and brings this mantra to work daily.