Simon Williams M.St (Cantab)

Simon began his police career with West Midlands Police in 2002, where he gained extensive experience in frontline operational roles, including Neighbourhood Policing, Roads Policing, Public Order Policing, and Offender Management. While leading offender management, Simon pursued and completed a Master’s Degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management at the University of Cambridge.

In 2016, Simon transferred to the Western Australia Police Service as a Senior Sergeant, where he played a key role in operationalising Evidence-Based Policing under The Police Innovation and Improvement Command. Throughout his 18-year career as a sworn officer, Simon led and implemented numerous field experiments, testing strategies such as hot spots policing, procedural justice, deferred prosecutions, and crime prevention through environmental design.

In May 2019, Simon joined the New Zealand Police as a Director at the newly established Evidence-Based Policing Centre (EBPC). In this role, he led a multidisciplinary team of researchers, knowledge experts, service designers, and experienced police officers to rigorously test police practices in an applied context. Simon’s leadership focused on promoting evidence-based policing and enhancing the capability of officers and staff to make informed decisions based on the best available evidence of what works, what doesn’t, and what shows promise in policing.

In 2023 Simon relocated to Australia, on secondment as the Assistant Director at the Australia & New Zealand Police Advisory Agency (ANZPAA), where he contributed to strategic projects that advanced policing policy and practice across the region. In addition, Simon continues to support the Australia and New Zealand Society of Evidence-Based Policing as the Global Collaboration Lead and holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of the society’s journal, Police Science.

In recognition of his contributions to the field, Simon was nominated as a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology, Division of Experimental Criminology in 2019.

Most recently, Simon has joined KPMG, where he supports their National Security and Justice team, bringing his experience in policing and evidence-based practice to help clients address complex challenges, understand impact, and deliver effective, efficient, and legitimate services to communities.