Two former senior officers. One purpose: better policing.
Policing Edge was founded by two retired police superintendents with more than 50 years of operational and leadership experience between them. We combine that experience with research, accredited training and a shared belief that police leaders make better decisions when they are supported by evidence.
Paul Ford
MSt (Cantab), PGCE, CMgr, FCMI, FRSA
Paul served 25 years in policing, in the Metropolitan Police and Hampshire Constabulary, retiring as Superintendent. His commands included Frontline Policing, Specialist Protection, Custody Command, Counter-Terrorism, Learning and Development and Government Policy roles. He was reviewing officer and implementation lead for the recommendations that followed the Stockwell and Mark Saunders police shootings. He wrote the national guidance and plans for Op Plato, the UK’s response to multi-site terrorist attacks, and was a contributing policy adviser to Every Child Matters.
Paul holds an Masters in Studies (MSt) in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge and is a CMI Level 7 assessor. He is an independent researcher whose published work covers police legitimacy, complaints, counter-terrorism and the ethics of AI in policing. He is a contributing author to Policing Insight and guest panel member on PolicingTV.
Paul Ford, former Hampshire Constabulary Police Superintendent
Carl Burkey
MBA, MA (Edu), FCMI, FSET
Carl served 30 years in policing in Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police, with secondments to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the College of Policing, retiring as a Superintendent. He has led on a significant number of police transformational projects including navigating the complex institutional structures with the transition to Agile working practices and led on the strategic estate rationalisation programme that successfully delivered state of the art police custody suites. Has extensive experience as a senior educator in the College of Policing specialising in modern leadership development, systems thinking and embedding EDI across complex operational environments.
Carl holds an MBA and MA (Edu), is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Society of Education (FSET) which represents the pinnacle of professional standing within further education and is the proud recipient of the Queens Award for Excellence in Training and Development, specifically driving innovation in workplace inclusion for hidden disabilities.
Carl brings sharp business acumen into policing as a founder and director of Towercourt Training CMI Approved Centre with 10 years’ experience in the delivery of leadership education and professional qualifications across the public and private sectors, both nationally and internationally including penal reform programmes across Central Asia..
Carl Burkey, CEO Towercourt Training and former Superintendent
We have led, trained and assessed police leaders. We know what pressure feels like, and we know what the evidence says about handling it.