Local Police Area Commanders

Berkshire

Chief Superintendent Sarah Grahame

Berkshire Local Police Areas

Sarah Grahame took over as Chief Superintendent for Berkshire in December 2021.

Sarah has worked across Berkshire in local command roles and brings a wealth of experience in local policing.  She held the post of Local Area Commander for Slough, and has previously served as Deputy commander in Windsor and Maidenhead and Bracknell and Wokingham local police areas.

Sarah is passionate about operational policing and is an accredited Public Order Silver Commander, and has commanded operations ranging from protest to football, and large scale events such as Henley Regatta.  Sarah recently qualified as a Strategic Firearms Commander.

Sarah has spent the last two years on secondment to Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, working as Deputy Portfolio Director for the PEEL police inspections.  Here she worked with national partners such as the College of Policing, Home Office and NPCC to agree the scope and methodology for police inspections, and implemented the new PEEL inspections.

With a master’s degree in Police Management and Leadership from Warwick Business School, she is committed to supporting the teams she leads, to deliver the best service to the public of Thames Valley.

Superintendent Andy Cranidge

LPA Commander – Bracknell and Wokingham

I joined Thames Valley Police in 1996 and was posted to Oxford Police Area working out of Cowley Police Station as a Response and Community Officer until joining Roads Policing. I moved to Vale of the White Horse Police Area on promotion to Sergeant and worked on Response and Neighbourhood Policing working out of Abingdon Police Station. On promotion to Inspector I led the introduction of a force wide offender management programme alongside the Probation and Drug Support Services to tackle persistent offenders. I then spent time working within this field and Youth justice in Criminal Justice Department.  During this time, I became a Public Order Commander policing a range of protests, sporting events, ceremonial events and operations. I then moved and ran the Joint Operations Unit Public Order and Mounted Section across Thames Valley & Hampshire Police. I was promoted to Chief Inspector and to the role of Deputy Commander for Bracknell & Wokingham before recently being seconded to develop the force response to Neighbourhood Policing. Now promoted to LPA  Commander for Bracknell & Wokingham.  I am a great believer in delivering effective visible local policing and working closely with partners to support and protect the community.

Superintendent Steve Raffield

LPA Commander – Reading

Superintendent Steve Raffield joined Thames Valley Police and started his career in Bracknell in 1993. He has worked in a range of roles and different areas across the force, including uniformed response, neighbourhood policing, various CID roles and more recently as Detective Chief Inspector Crime Manager for Milton Keynes.

Superintendent Raffield is pleased to be taking up the role of Reading LPA Commander and returning to an area of the Force where he first started his career. He is keen to bring a continued focus on serious violence, knife crime and domestic abuse.

Superintendent Lee Barnham

LPA Commander – Slough

Supt Barnham began his policing career in Slough working as a response officer and a detective before being promoted to Sergeant and moving to Reading. From here, he worked in the Protecting Vulnerable People unit, where he led investigations into high risk cases of domestic abuse, managed the Berkshire response to child sexual exploitation and played a key role in the implementation of the six Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) across the county. After being promoted to Inspector in High Wycombe, Supt Barnham then became a Detective Chief Inspector in the Policing Strategy Unit where he led on the development of policy and practice for serious crime and protecting vulnerable people. Supt Barnham joined Slough as Deputy LPA Commander in 2019 and was promoted to LPA Commander in 2021.

Superintendent Zahid Aziz

LPA Commander – West Berkshire

Superintendent Zahid Aziz has a policing career spanning more than 27 years. He joined Strathclyde Police in 1994 before transferring to Thames Valley Police as a sergeant in 2007, based initially in Reading. Supt Aziz has held a number of roles including as acting inspector in West Berkshire in 2010, inspector from 2013, force training manager in Sulhamstead from 2015 and as Slough LPA’s Deputy Commander. Before taking up the post of LPA Commander for West Berkshire in January 2021, he was Detective Chief Inspector in the Professional Standards Department.

Supt Aziz is passionate about ensuring victims remain at the centre of cases and working with our partners to keep our communities safe.

Superintendent Clare Knibbs

LPA Commander – Windsor and Maidenhead

Superintendent Knibbs joined Thames Valley Police in 1999 where she was based in Reading. She has worked in a range of roles since then and in different areas across the force, including CID, Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit, Child Abuse Investigation Unit, most recently being Head of Protecting Vulnerable People.

Superintendent Knibbs is pleased to be taking up the role of Windsor and Maidenhead LPA Commander and keen to keep the continuous high quality of service the LPA enjoys with low crime rates and good crime detection rates.

Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes

Chief Superintendent Michael Loebenberg

Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Local Police Areas

Chief Supt Loebenberg initially joined the Metropolitan Police Service as a Police Constable in 2006. Over his career he has served in each rank, in roles including response and neighbourhood policing, crime investigation and custody services. He has worked across numerous policy and strategy areas, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UCL, as well as a Master’s degree in Police Leadership and Management from Warwick. He has worked on many large scale football, protest and ceremonial events as an accredited public order commander.

Chief Supt Loebenberg joined Thames Valley Police as a Superintendent in 2017 and spent two years leading the NPCC Digital Public Contact Programme, forging a nationwide collaboration which is transforming the online services offered for contact between the public and the police by forces across England and Wales. He recently received an NPCC Chair’s Commendation for his work on the programme and continues his work in this area as a Board Member. He commanded Aylesbury Vale for two years from 2019, leading the police partnership for the establishment of Buckinghamshire Council, and is proud of the area’s achievements in protecting the community and bringing offenders to justice. He was promoted to Chief Supt in 2021 and in addition to leading the command teams for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, taking responsibility as Vice Chair for the Safer Buckinghamshire partnership, is also the force Head of Tasking and Resilience.

Superintendent Rebecca Mears

LPA Commander – Aylesbury Vale

Supt Mears joined Thames Valley Police in 1996, starting out as a PC in High Wycombe.  Since then, she has worked in a range of roles across response, neighbourhood policing and CID.  She has spent the last 18 months leading the Protecting Vulnerable People Department which oversees the investigations into child abuse, domestic abuse and the management of violent and sex offenders.

On her appointment, Supt Mears said: “Having previously worked at Aylesbury Vale in several Detective Chief Inspector roles, I am really excited at the prospect of returning to the area.

“I consider it a privilege to be leading the policing team for this area and to build on the successes that have already been achieved to prevent crime and keep Aylesbury Vale as a safe place to live and work.”

“I am keen to focus on tackling those crimes that have a significant impact on our communities, particularly serious violence. As Commander, I will support the excellent officers and staff of Aylesbury Vale to continue to deliver a high quality service to the local community along with our partners.”

Superintendent Emma Burroughs

LPA Commander – South Buckinghamshire

Superintendent Burroughs joined Thames Valley Police in 1996, starting out as a PC in High Wycombe and was then promoted to Sergeant in the area.

Since then, she worked her way through the ranks in a range of roles across response, neighbourhood and investigation teams. In 2016 she became the Deputy LPA Commander for Reading and following that, spent 18 months within the Force Intelligence and Specialist Operations team. She then returned to Wycombe as the LPA Commander in 2020.

Superintendent Marc Tarbit

LPA Commander – Milton Keynes

Superintendent Marc Tarbit joined Thames Valley Police in 1998. Marc has performed both uniform and detective roles in Oxford, where he most recently worked as the Deputy LPA Commander for the past three years. He also spent a number of years working in Force Intelligence, leading on improving the police response to tackling organised crime and the collaboration between TVP and the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit.

During his career, Marc gained a Masters Degree from Cambridge University in Criminology and Police Leadership, strengthening his interest in evidence-based policing. He brought a wealth of experience in leadership, neighbourhood policing and tackling organised crime with him to Milton Keynes on his appointment as LPA Commander in December 2019.

Oxfordshire

Chief Superintendent Katy Barrow-Grint

Oxfordshire Local Police Areas

Katy joined Thames Valley Police in 2000 having studied Sociology at the London School of Economics. She has worked in a variety of role and ranks including uniform patrol, CID, neighbourhood policing, child abuse investigation, surveillance and strategic development. At Superintendent rank Katy has been head of Criminal Justice for Thames Valley Police and the Head of Specialist Operations, running covert policing for the force and in September 2021 she was promoted to Chief Superintendent. Her current portfolio includes local policing in Oxfordshire, as well as thematic areas of force business including the Violence Against Women & Girls portfolio, Neighbourhood Policing, Citizens in Policing, and Mental Health.

 

Katy completed her Masters in Police Leadership and Management at Warwick Business School in 2015. She has a keen academic interest in domestic abuse, and published an academic journal article on domestic abuse attrition rates following her Masters research, and recently published a book chapter on domestic abuse in ‘An Introduction to Professional Policing’  She is now writing a book on Domestic abuse with others to be published by Routledge in 2022.

 

Katy is keen to develop the Force’s understanding and learning from the academic work being completed by officers and staff, and as a result, instigated the ‘TVP Journal’ which is a fantastic gateway to recognise the academic work of officers and staff. Following the success of the TVP Journal Katy was asked to be the Editor in Chief of the College of Policing Publication ‘Going Equipped’  Katy also leads on @WeCops a twitter debate forum on current police issues in the UK.

Superintendent Emma Garside

LPA Commander – Cherwell and West Oxfordshire

Superintendent Emma Garside joined Thames Valley Police in 1996 and has worked in a range of roles across response, neighbourhood and investigations functions.

As a Sergeant, she led on innovative work to create Thames Valley Police’s first multi-agency offender management team and as a Neighbourhood Inspector was commended for the work she led on police engagement with rural communities.  

More recently, she was the Deputy Head of the force’s Criminal Justice Department, Deputy Commander at Cherwell & West Oxfordshire and also led on a strategic business change project with Surrey and Sussex.

Superintendent Bruce Riddell

LPA Commander – Oxford

Superintendent Bruce Riddell joined Thames Valley Police at Banbury police station in 1996 and since then has worked in a range of roles including as a Neighbourhood Sergeant, a Detective Inspector on the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, a secondment to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and most recently as the Silver Commander on the force response to the COVID pandemic.

Superintendent Riddell is also the lead for the Force Hostage and Crises Negotiators.

Superintendent Lewis Prescott-Mayling

LPA Commander – South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse

Superintendent Prescott-Mayling joined Thames Valley Police in 2000 where he was based in Oxford. He has worked in a range of roles and different areas across the force, including uniformed response, neighbourhood policing, protecting vulnerable people, various CID roles and more recently as Detective Chief Inspector on Thames Valley’s Violence Reduction Unit.

Superintendent Prescott-Mayling is pleased to be taking up the role of South Oxfordshire and Vale of the White Horse LPA Commander and returning to an area of the Force where he has worked in various other roles. He is keen to bring a continued focus on key areas of policing such as violence and knife crime, domestic abuse, rural crime and the service provided to victims.