Chief Superintendent Richard Padwell Bradford's new top cop

Chief Superintendent Richard Padwell has taken over the District Commander role at Bradford from Rob McCoubrey, who has been promoted to Assistant Chief Constable. 

He began his career back in 1996 as a patrol officer in Chapeltown, Manningham, and Eccleshill, and trained as a barrister.

C/Supt Padwell spoke to the Telegraph & Argus on Wednesday and said: “I’m delighted because it’s absolutely the job that I would’ve picked for myself if I could’ve chosen it, but the fact that the Chief Constable has appointed me, I take it as a real privilege.”

He added: “I’ve been in policing for 28 years, I’ve worked in Bradford previously, in the early 2000s for a few years, and I’ve been back here on this occasion for three years.

“I think it’s a great place, great city, and the colleagues I work with have got a real ‘can do’ attitude.”

Chief Superintendent Richard Padwell has taken over the District Commander role at Bradford (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

The key priorities he has set out include tackling anti-social behaviour, drugs, acquisitive crimes – like burglary and robbery – and car crime.

C/Supt Padwell said: “But also, those issues which relate to vulnerability, so exploitation of young people, young people who might be vulnerable to sexual or criminal exploitation, for example.

“I think fundamentally, I would say it’s about reducing those key crime areas that really impact our local communities, it’s about protecting vulnerable people, and it’s about that reassurance, reassuring the community.”

Time at the Met Police in London, undertaking a variety of roles over his career, and even spending a brief period in Chicago and New York researching police-community engagement has given the new DC a wealth of experience.

But one feature has always struck C/Supt Padwell as being pivotal to a successful force and keeping people safe – neighbourhood policing, which he has led in Bradford since 2021.

He said: “I really truly believe in it, I believe in the concept of getting to know your local communities, understanding, being approachable, engaging, problem-solving, and then intervening early to tackle the problems that are causing issues within our different communities.”

Trafalgar House Police Station, in Nelson Street, Bradford (Image: Other)

He added: “It’s your local officer on the beat, your police officer, your PCSO who are there, hopefully day in and day out.

“They have local contacts with all the different communities, we’ve got officers working in schools, we have officers who engage with businesses, with charities, you name it.

“They are picking up information and understanding – they understand what the needs of the communities are and they also can therefore utilise a range of different methods by which to actually solve the particular problems.”

Speaking on his aims for the next three years, C/Supt said: “I hope that Bradford, having had a fantastically successful City of Culture, is again going from strength to strength, with increasing public confidence, reducing anti-social behaviour, reducing crime, and lower levels of vulnerability.”