After Chris got his BA degree and then Master’s from the University of London he joined law enforcement in 1993 with HM Customs and Excise. He progressed to Customs’ elite National Investigation Service working on international organised crime. He uncovered, developed and then tactically led a case that was, at the time, the largest of its kind in UK law enforcement history in terms of proceeds, perpetrators, geographic spread and the number of officers involved. In this capacity he continually devised and implemented new ways of working. This included the creation of the first multi-agency task force in this area of work. In addition he applied a new approach to old and rarely used legal measures which allowed for the freezing and seizure of criminal proceeds in excess of fifty million pounds. These innovations have been recognised for their effectiveness and are utilised to this day as standard procedure. As the day to day lead for this investigation Chris brokered many, ground breaking international agreements leading to executive action involving six hundred staff working across numerous jurisdictions including Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Hong Kong. More than sixty arrests resulted as did, ultimately, significant prison terms. In addition, Chris utilised cutting edge technical surveillance techniques. He is a trained surveillance officer.

Within Customs Chris was an advanced interviewer taking on some of the most challenging interviews in the department as well as training and mentoring others. He was a fully trained financial investigator representing Customs and the UK at numerous international forums and workshops aimed at creating global initiatives to combat organised crime money laundering. He also became a HUMINT specialist leading on the creation of strategy and process as well as the training of other officers.

In 2010 Chris joined a national policing network. Working in the Border Policing cadre he took on the new role of a Regional Ports Coordinator. He was selected for this role due to his depth of experience in working across agencies and in forging new and robust relationships with partners as well as for his detailed knowledge of aviation and maritime transport modes and the combatting of criminality exploiting them. In this capacity Chris has overseen the operation of Border Policing in his region and acted as the conduit between the Region and the National Network as well as being the single point of contact for partner agencies. In this capacity Chris created the Joint Agency Group and the process underpinning it. This was adopted nationally as best practice and is a cornerstone of the Home Office Collaboration at the Border programme.

Chris also acted, for several years, as his organisation’s national lead for General Aviation and General Maritime. In this capacity he created and ran national operations, formed and chaired a multi-agency working group. As a result of this work it is recognised that Law Enforcement is in the most advanced and positive position it has ever been in with regard to the management of General Aviation and the mitigation of the issues it presents. Chris also delivered significant advances in terms of the policing of General Maritime by assessing vulnerabilities and proposing innovative solutions, including the use of cutting-edge technology - these are ongoing.

Chris led his region during the Covid pandemic and lockdown. In this capacity he devised and implemented new ways for the teams to work considering the unprecedented challenges presented. This was achieved in an environment that was often difficult and worrying for members of the team and Chris built the new ways of working via consensus, consultation and engagement. As such Border Policing remained visible and maintained a hostile environment for those posing threats to the UK. This approach was recognised as amongst the most resilient and innovative adopted across the country.

As the Regional Ports Coordinator Chris also supported and championed the project to build the Specialist Operations Unit in his region. This is a unique capability nationally that allows for the deployment of officers across a wide range of environments but particularly maritime.  Chris passed the required course involving sea survival and, at sea, vessel to vessel boarding, including whilst underway.  He is also an accredited maritime radio operator.

Chris also developed a new approach to training within Border Policing. He devised, wrote and presented novel and productive approaches to campaign development and delivery, leadership and team and individual achievement. Chris was a core presenter on courses for new officers within his region and wrote and delivered presentations on a National Leadership at the Border course.

When not working or spending time with his family Chris writes and has completed seven novels, numerous plays, a screenplay and a TV drama. He has trained in martial arts for many years and is currently concentrating on Brazilian ju-jitsu.