Derbyshire's Chief Constable announces retirement

Rachel Swann, Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary, will retire on 7th October, but is set to rejoin the force after a month-long break. The move is in-line with national guidance following the changes to the Compulsory Retirement Age for police officers, introduced in April 2022.

The Retire and Rejoin Scheme is open to all police officers in England and Wales regardless of rank and is designed to retain skills, knowledge and experience within the police service.  The scheme, which does not create any additional costs to the taxpayer, is in accordance with updated guidance from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and the College of Policing. 

The scheme allows for any police officer, including a Chief Constable, to formally resign as an officer before being re-appointed into the same rank. This process requires a break in service of at least one calendar month. 

PCC Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts will present a report to the Police and Crime Panel at its meeting on 26 September, when she will recommend the re-appointment of Mrs Swann as Derbyshire's Chief Constable.  This appointment will be for a fixed-term contract of one year and nine months, until the end of July 2026.

She will say that, subject to the Panel's approval of these arrangements, as it is a legislative requirement for every force to have a Chief Constable in post, the Deputy Chief Constable, Simon Blatchly, will become Acting Chief Constable from 7th October - 8th November 2024.

Mrs Swann, who was appointed as Chief Constable in August 2020, is Derbyshire's first female Chief Constable. 

Background
The Retire and Rejoin Scheme is open to all police officers, including Chief Constables, in England and Wales regardless of rank and is designed to retain skills, knowledge and experience. 

It allows for any officer to formally resign and take a break of at least one month before being reappointed at the same rank.  Participation in this scheme does not create any additional cost to the taxpayer.

The Scheme is designed to encourage chief officers to stay longer in post and is supported by national bodies, including the NPCC, APCC, College of Policing and the Chief Police Officers' Staff Association.  

It supports the government's objectives of achieving longer working lives, whilst removing the financial dis-incentive that may encourage officers who would ordinarily wish to continue working in the police to leave service for reason associated with pension benefit changes.

The NHS offers a similar scheme for retiring staff.

Chief Constable Rachel Swann QPM
Rachel began her policing career with Leicestershire Police in 1994. Rising through the ranks, she took a key command role for the Team GB Olympic training camp at Loughborough University and the Queen's Jubilee visit to Leicester.

In 2015 she joined Northamptonshire Police as Assistant Chief Constable before being promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2017.

She joined Derbyshire Constabulary as Deputy Chief Constable in February 2019 - taking command of the operation to save the town of Whaley Bridge - before becoming Chief Constable in August 2020.

Rachel received the Queen's Policing Medal (QPM) in June 2021 for her distinguished service, as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours List.