Keynote speakers

Confirmed keynote speakers for the Police Education Conference include:

Jo Noakes

Director of Leadership and Workforce Development, College of Policing

Jo joined the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) in 2008. From 2016 to 2019 Jo was the Head of Leadership and Talent and the Director of the College's Strategic Command Course (SCC), the most senior leadership development programme in UK policing. Jo was appointed as the Director of Workforce Development in February 2019 to lead the College's work supporting police officers and staff to meet the challenges of the future.

Kevyn Burns

Head of Workforce Development Implementation and Quality Assurance, College of Policing

Prior to joining the College, he worked for sector skills councils for eight years, with half of that time at Skills for Justice with its associated relationship with policing. Kevyn has worked for the College of Policing since 2016 and currently heads up the implementation and QA functions for key initiatives including the Policing Education Qualifications Framework.

Wendy Watkins

Implementation Manager, College of Policing

Wendy has worked for the College of Policing since 2017 currently as Implementation Manager leading a team of advisors implementing initiatives including the PEQF and National Centre for Police Leadership. Wendy’s previous 22 year career was across West Mercia Police and Cambridgeshire Police within forensic services initially as a SOCO and later training and assessing the competence of forensic investigators.

Andy Cooke

Chief Inspector, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services

Andy Cooke served in Merseyside Police as a detective at each rank before joining Lancashire Constabulary as an Assistant Chief Constable. He returned to Merseyside some four years later to take un the role of deputy Chief Constable and later became Chief Constable of that force. He was appointed to HMICFRS as an Inspector in 2021 and became the Chief Inspector, HMICFRS on 1 April 2022.

Toby Miles-Johnson

Associate Professor, Western Sydney University, Australia

Toby Miles-Johnson has an international profile as a policing scholar, specialising in research with police organisations, national security agencies and international defence agencies. He is Chair of the Policing Group within the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and Director of the Academic program for Criminology and Policing at Western Sydney University.

Jenny Sims

Assistant Chief Constable, Merseyside Police

Jenny Sims joined Merseyside Police and then went onto become an Assistant Chief Constable in Staffordshire Police and then Cheshire Constabulary before returning to Merseyside Police in 2022. On her return being appointed Assistant Chief Constable, People Services in addition to having the role of National Lead for Vehicle Crime.