New chief officer appointed at Dorset Special Constabulary

Ryan Howell was selected after recruitment process overseen by Assistant Chief Constable Steve Lyne.

Mr Lyne said “Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership” to the role”.

Mr Howell began his policing career in 2005 when he joined Gloucestershire Constabulary as a special constable. He then joined West Midlands Police as a crime scene investigator (CSI) in 2009 where he began his career in police forensics.

He worked in Birmingham city centre as a CSI while continuing to commute to Gloucestershire to perform his duties as a special constable.

After demonstrating his competency for independent patrol status, he was later promoted to section officer. Mr Howell led policing operations across the county and later moved to be one of the very first specialist special constables in the roads policing unit, where he was based until he left in 2019.

In 2015, he moved to Essex Police after being promoted to senior CSI based in Harlow, later taking on the position of acting principal CSI for both Kent Police and Essex Police.

In January 2020, after a short secondment as a subject matter expert to the Transforming Forensics project, Mr Howell joined Dorset Police as a regional forensic coordinator.

He has strategic responsibility for the force CSI teams and is the strategic link with Southwest Forensics. He holds a number of regional portfolios, including organised rural crime forensics and will soon take the lead on police fire investigation for the region. He also chairs the Southwest Forensics Regional Reward and Recognition Group.

Mr Lyne said: “Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership from across different roles within policing, much of which is directly transferable to his role as chief officer of the Special Constabulary. I’m looking forward to working closely with him.”

Mr Howell, who lives with his partner and son in the west of the county, said he was  “overjoyed and honoured” to be appointed as the new chief officer for Dorset’s Special Constabulary.

He added: “The phrase, ‘the police are the public and the public are the police’ couldn’t be truer than it is for the Special Constabulary.

“Our special constables are normal people, and they go above and beyond every day.

“I’m excited to shape the future of the Special Constabulary in Dorset and really demonstrate the value our special constables can and do give to our communities.

“We’ll be opening recruitment soon and I’m really keen for individuals who have skills and experiences that they can bring to policing to watch out for our recruitment engagement events.”

Dorset Special Constabulary currently has more than 120 officers across the county.

Dorset Police said it will be opening recruitment for special constables in the coming weeks.