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Warwickshire Police, the force that covers Stratford-upon-Avon, still has no permanent chief constable after the county’s police and crime commissioner stopped the recruitment on Tuesday 10 November. In a short statement, Commissioner Philip Seccombe said he had decided to end the process. Emma Bond MBE, whom he had named as his preferred candidate, no longer has that status.
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The statement gives no reason. It says the confidentiality of the recruitment process will be respected, and thanks Ms Bond for her time and commitment.
Who is running Warwickshire Police now
Acting Chief Constable David Gardner will keep leading the force until he takes up his new job as chief constable of Staffordshire Police, the statement says. It doesn’t say when that will be. The commissioner says he is putting arrangements in place to keep the force’s leadership steady and will give more details once they are confirmed.
Mr Gardner has been acting chief constable since April 2026, according to the commissioner’s page on the role. He joined Warwickshire Police in 2001 and was deputy chief constable from February 2025.
How the force came to be without a chief
The last permanent chief constable, Alex Franklin-Smith, announced in February that he would leave policing in April for a job in the private sector. The commissioner opened the search for a successor on 20 April, with applications closing on 27 May. His office said then that the preferred candidate would face a public confirmation hearing before the Warwickshire Police and Crime Panel.
Ms Bond was named as the preferred candidate in June, the Stratford Herald reports; it first reported today’s decision. The commissioner’s statement doesn’t say whether a confirmation hearing took place.
What it means in Stratford
The statement doesn’t mention any change to policing in Stratford or anywhere else in the county. The chief constable sets the force’s direction and is answerable to the commissioner for delivering the police and crime plan across Warwickshire, which is among the five smallest forces in England and Wales. The job pays £188,656 a year and is based at the force headquarters at Leek Wootton, near Warwick.
We’ll update this story when the commissioner announces who will lead the force next. For the latest local figures, see our Stratford-upon-Avon crime figures for September, and our safety page has the rest of our police and safety stories.
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Alex Harrington
Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.
