Assistant Chief Constable Jon Reilly
Jon joined Avon and Somerset Police in 1997 as a police constable. He has undertaken a wide variety of roles, both in uniform and as a detective. Jon has spent much of his career in criminal investigations (CID). He is Assistant Chief Constable for Neighbourhood, Partnerships and Response.
Jon is responsible for public-facing policing, dealing with everyone from the most vulnerable to the most violent in our communities.
Prior to returning to Avon and Somerset Police in 2021, Jon was the South West Regional Assistant Chief Constable, leading specialist capabilities across five regional forces focusing on counter-terrorism, serious and organised crime and forensics. Previously, he held the role of Chief Superintendent within Avon and Somerset Police, he served as both Bristol Area Commander and Head of Investigations.
Jon says:
“I first moved to Bristol at the age of 19 as a university student and, having decided to become a police officer, wanted to stay in the city and area that I had quickly come to enjoy.
“Starting out as a police constable in south Bristol, I worked in response and neighbourhood policing before moving into a career in investigations. I have had the good fortune of meeting people from many different walks of life and gaining insight into the ways they live, work and spend their time and understanding what is important to them. Policing is a real honour.
“Being Assistant Chief Constable is about how we and others work together to keep communities safe”.
It is about ensuring that our values – caring, inclusive, learning and courageous – of which I am a huge supporter, are reflected in how we look after our communities and our workforce. Values-based leadership has been very important to me throughout my career.
I take real pride in how we police – continuously looking for ways to improve and providing an excellent quality of service. I am inspired by the people I have met during my career who drive my commitment to ensuring we deliver outstanding policing for everyone.”
Key responsibilities
- Neighbourhood Policing including Offender Management, Victim Care and Safeguarding and Response Policing, and the Communications Centre which handles all 999 and 101 crime and incident reports.
- Strategic lead for reducing serious violence, Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs), reducing reoffending, safeguarding, Citizens In Policing, counter-terrorism and data quality.
- South West Regional Lead for Children and Young Persons, Problem Solving and Crime Prevention and Victims and Witnesses.
- Chief Officer Lead for Faith and Beliefs.
- Working in collaboration with key stakeholders including the Home Office, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Independent Advisory Groups and scrutiny panels, local authorities, other emergency services and the private and third sectors.
- Recognising the importance of performance and good governance and delivering Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection regimes, Home Office strategic objectives and the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
Biography
- 1997 – Uniformed and detective roles with Avon and Somerset Police
- 2010 – Detective Chief Inspector and Staff Officer to the Chief Constable and
Chief Officer Group - 2012 – Detective Superintendent, Head of Bristol CID
- 2014 – Chief Superintendent, Bristol Area Commander
- 2017 – Detective Chief Superintendent, Head of Investigations
- 2019 – South West Regional Assistant Chief Constable for a collaboration of five regional police forces focusing on specialist capabilities
- 2021 – Assistant Chief Constable, Neighbourhoods, Partnerships and Response
Career highlights and achievements
- Leading the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU), Counter-Terrorism Policing South West (CTPSW) and South West Forensics (SWF) as the Assistant Chief Constable for the South West region.
- Delivering a major restructure of regional forensic services through the South West Forensics collaboration, ensuring it remains fit for purpose in line with the changing demands of policing including significant performance improvement.
- Achieving the Bristol Area Commander role to which Jon had long aspired, with responsibility for the delivery of all policing services across the city in which he had lived and worked for over twenty years. Consistently building effective and highly performing teams through leadership development at all levels based on a caring and supportive approach.
- As Bristol Area Commander, improving trust and confidence in under-represented communities by building effective relationships with community stakeholders and developing and re-energising a now highly regarded and effective Independent Advisory Group.
- Significantly improving accountability and performance as Avon and Somerset Police lead for stop and search, proactively introducing increased transparency and scrutiny leading to an outstanding Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) grading.
- Senior investigating officer in a range of serious and major criminal investigations.
Qualification, awards and recognition
- Masters in Civil Engineering and European Studies (Bristol University and University of Cantabria, Spain)
- Strategic Firearms Commander
- Public Order and Events Gold Commander
Personal life
- Jon is married, with two teenage children
- He is a huge rugby fan and a Bristol Bears season ticket holder
- Jon enjoys spending time walking with his black Labrador
- He is a practicing member of his local church