National Office

PRESIDENT Chief Superintendent Irene Curtis

Chief Superintendent Irene Curtis joined Lancashire Constabulary in 1985 and has performed a variety of roles in different ranks across the county, both in uniform and as a detective.  She has experience as an SIO and as a firearms commander, and in the summer of 2000 she was seconded to the Isle of Man Constabulary for a 6 month period as Acting Deputy Chief Constable.

Irene has been closely involved in partnership working since 2001 when as a Superintendent she chaired the tasking group of Preston Community Safety Partnership with impressive results.  As a Chief Superintendent she has performed roles as Head of Corporate Development, Head of Professional Standards and as a BCU Commander for 3 years. As chair she oversaw the merging of two community safety partnerships into one before leading an innovative and successful family intervention project on behalf of the Local Strategic Partnership.

Irene has been a member of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales since 2001 and has been active at both local and national levels for many years. She first joined the NEC in 2007 taking the women’s reserve place, and was elected as the Association’s Vice President in 2010,President Elect in 2012 and President in 2013.

Living on a smallholding in Lancashire with her husband, dog and chickens, Irene enjoys making the most of the local countryside, including fell walking and cycling. She has also been known to play a tune on her saxophone from time to time!

VICE PRESIDENT Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas

Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas has lived and served all his career in the beautiful county of Gloucestershire. During most of his career Gavin has served as a Detective at every rank including Head of Crime and Protective Services and in a variety of areas including specialist crime, Counter Terrorism and as an SIO. In 2006 he attended the FBI programme at Quantico Virginia, with colleagues not only from every state in the USA but also from 28 other countries, an experience that Gavin feels was fantastic. It has since taken him to a number of different countries meeting colleagues and experiencing different policing models.

Gavin has also served as a Detective Chief Superintendent Professional Standards and also as a BCU commander for 2 years, a role he found both satisfying and rewarding working with communities and delivering a service.

Gavin has been active within the Association for many years, as both Branch and District Chair and Secretary. He was elected as National Vice President in 2013.

Gavin lives in Gloucestershire with his wife Irina and their two daughters and enjoys cycling, sailing, walking, and restoring his house and garden. In his ‘spare time’ he loves reading and has a quiet ambition to learn to play the piano with his youngest daughter.

NATIONAL SECRETARY Chief Superintendent Graham Cassidy

Graham Cassidy took over as the National Deputy Secretary of the PSAEW in October 2007 and became National Secretary in January 2011.

Prior to taking on his roles with the PSAEW he served for 25 years with the South Yorkshire Police (having graduated from York University with a First Class Honours degree in History) starting his service in Doncaster where he still lives.   He served as a Sergeant at Rotherham; as an Inspector – Roads Policing; as the Chief Constable’s Staff Officer; as Superintendent Communications and then as the District Commander for Sheffield Central and then returning to be the District Commander for Doncaster.  He has been a Superintendent for the past 15 years.

Prior to becoming a National Officer in 2007, he was the Chair of the South Yorkshire Branch of the PSAEW for 8 years, the Chair of ‘B’ District of the PSAEW and so a member of the NEC for 3 years and the Chair of the Command Resilience Business Area.

As the National Secretary Graham is the lead negotiating officer for Superintendents in England and Wales on pay and pensions.  In addition he sits as a Trustee on the Board of the Police Dependents Trust (Patron HM The Queen) and he also serves as a Trustee of the Police Convalescent Centre at Flint House in Goring.

He is married to Patricia who is an Education Consultant with Doncaster MBC and has two children, Fiona and John.

His hobbies include painting (gloss and emulsion!)

NATIONAL DEPUTY SECRETARY Chief Superintendent Tim Jackson

Tim is the National Deputy Secretary of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales.  He joined the Cheshire Constabulary in September 1980 and has spent the majority of his career in operational policing roles.  Following a period of ‘acting’ duties, he was promoted to superintendent rank in 2002 and chief superintendent in 2005.  He was a BCU Commander for nearly nine years and then took up the post of Head of Uniform Operations.  He was appointed to his current role in January 2011.

Tim has been active in the Association since shortly after becoming a member. He served first as Branch Secretary and then took on the role of Chair when it became vacant.  He was also District Treasurer for ‘A’ District.  A member of the NEC since 2006, Tim was the first member to take on the role of Reserved Place Member for LGB&T members, a position he held until becoming a full-time National Officer.

A keen exponent of Damage It Yourself, Tim has a series of property renovation projects under his belt.  The latest of these being the conversion of a Grade II Listed former police station and police house into his current home, which he shares with his partner, Steve.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS CO-ORDINATOR & EXECUTIVE SUPPORT OFFICER - Eamonn Carroll

Eamonn is the Professional Standards Co-ordinator and Executive Support Officer for the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales. Eamonn retired from British Transport Police in 2011, having served in a variety of both Uniform and CID roles. As a Senior Investigating Officer he led a number of high profile major investigations. He was an active member of the Superintendents’ Association and became a member of the Panel of Friends in 2006. As Chief Superintendent he performed the roles of Head of Professional Standards and Head of Territorial Policing until his retirement.

He was awarded a Master’s Degree in Business Administration by Henley Business School in 2000.

MARKETING MANAGER - Peter Williams

Peter joined Manchester City police in 1969, transferring to Dorset and Bournemouth Constabulary (later Dorset Police) in 1974. In Dorset he was promoted through the ranks to Superintendent, being at each stage the youngest holder of his rank in the force. As a Superintendent he was at the same time the youngest and the longest serving Superintendent in Dorset.

He became Branch Chair and later District Chair before being appointed as National Assistant Secretary and then National Secretary of the Association.

As a Chief Inspector he became `Bramshill Scholar’ gaining a first class honours degree in computer science at Manchester University. He later completed a masters degree at Exeter University. He is currently studying for his third degree with the Open University.

As a Superintendent he held several operational command roles, was head of planning and development and latterly Traffic Divisional Commander. He was a ‘swap cop’ in Hong Kong for 2 years shortly before moving to our Pangbourne Office. His role as Secretary of the Staff Side for Superintendents at the PNB he oversaw the return of the Chief Superintendent rank but retired before its re-introduction.

Awarded the QPM for his services to the Association he retired in 2001 to take up the role of Marketing Manager with primary responsibility for exhibitors at the National Conference.

Since his retirement he has become a karate instructor, a governor at two local schools and is a volunteer manager at the Royal International Air Tattoo.