Volunteer talk profiles

Tony Keep

Museum Volunteer

Tony retired from Thames Valley Police as a Chief Inspector in 1995 after 32 years’ service. He initially started as a cadet. During his service he gained experience in general uniform duties, traffic (roads policing) and training. As a Chief Inspector at Reading he was involved in the planning and policing of Reading football matches, the Reading Festival and the Henley Royal Regatta.

Following his retirement from the police service Tony started a second career in personnel and training, taking early retirement from Slough Borough Council in December 2010. In April 2009 Tony was awarded Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD).

Following his retirement Tony became a volunteer in the force museum. He wrote a book entitled ‘I Remember When’ to raise money for the Police Rehabilitation Trust, in 2013 he researched The Great Train Robbery and in 2014 researched into 49 police officers who were killed whilst on military service in World War I (WWI).

Tony's talks are:

• Policing before Radios and Computers
• The Great Train Robbery
• Policing during WWI

Ken Wells

Museum Volunteer

Ken started his police career in October 1962 when he joined the Metropolitan Police. After completing his training at Hendon Police College he was posted to Hammersmith. In 1965 he transferred to the Berkshire Constabulary and served at Wokingham, Woodley and the Berkshire Headquarters at Sulhamstead.

After completing 30 years as a police officer he continued as a civilian Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO) for a further seven years and finished his service as the curator of the force museum at Sulhamstead where he still remains as a volunteer.

In 2012 the Chief Constable awarded Ken a Lifetime Achievement Award for completing almost 50 years' service.

Ken's talks are:

• History of Thames Valley Police
• Amelia Dyer the Baby Murderer
• The Lydney Murder
• Scenes of Crime

Dave Stubbs

Museum Volunteer

Dave Stubbs served as a police officer and police staff member for over 40 years, mostly in Berkshire, with a strong emphasis on community policing and crime prevention.

After joining London’s Metropolitan Police, he transferred to Newbury in 1973, where he was area beat officer for the Wash Common community for sixteen years, receiving the Shrievalty Merit Award for his work.

Becoming Newbury’s first full-time schools liaison officer allowed Dave to participate in innovative crime prevention and personal safety work with young people. After a return to operational policing, Dave completed his police career working with architects, planners and developers, creating safer environments by designing out crime. Dave became the first officer in the country to achieve a Master’s Degree in Crime Prevention and Community Safety.

He continues to support the force as a volunteer in the museum sharing his vast knowledge of policing history.

Dave's talks are:

• History of Thames Valley Police
• Police Officer – A life of crime … prevention

Carol Page

Museum Volunteer

On joining the force Carole Page was posted to Reading. She was one of the first women officers on shift following the Equal Opportunities Act. During her early career she worked in several roles across Thames Valley, including patrol, custody, roads policing, proactive unit and area beat following the riots in Blackbird Leys. As a sector Inspector she became involved in partnership working and as a Chief Inspector trained as a Public Order Commander overseeing football matches, music events and other public order operations.

As Superintendent LPA Commander at Aylesbury she was involved in number of local issues or operations following the discovery that one of the ‘London Bombers’ lived in Aylesbury. In addition to being responsible for the policing of Aylesbury Vale, she introduced the Thames Valley Women’s Network and devised the ‘Aspire’ women’s development programme. Carol was also selected to become one of TVP’s first executive coaches.

She moved to Temporary Chief Superintendent Local Policing and was responsible for strategic level initiatives such as the Neighbourhood Policing roll out, policy development and delivery plans to deal with prostitution, drugs, youth crime and corporate level activity to support the national Counter Terrorism Strategy.

Following retirement, Carol has continue to act as a coach and mentor and is passionate about preserving the legacy of Thames Valley Police.

Carol's talk is:

• My Career with Thames Valley Police

Michael Page (QPM)

Museum Volunteer

Michael Page joined Thames Valley Police in 1974 and his first posting was to High Wycombe as a patrol constable. Having passed his sergeants exam in 1977 he was selected to attend the 16th Special Course, an accelerated promotion opportunity, held at the Police Staff College Bramshill.

Michael served in most areas of the force apart from Oxford and Banbury. He spent a number of years as a public order commander and was involved in events such as Greenham Common, the miners’ dispute and animal rights demonstrations.

He was a senior investigator on the CID, investigating several murders and kidnappings and is a qualified international hostage negotiator. He was trained in the management of ‘major incidents’. All these skills became very relevant when, he commanded the operation that dealt with the Ufton Nervet train derailment and led the police inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly.

Michael retired in 2006 having attained the rank of Deputy Chief Constable and continues to support the force as a volunteer.

Michael's talk is:

• My career with Thames Valley Police

Francoise Richardson

Museum Volunteer

Francoise Richardson has worked as an interpreter for the police, court and customs. She was a special constable for the Thames Valley Police for nearly 20 years (Reading and Wokingham) and helped train young students with the Duke of Edinburgh Award at the Bulmershe centre in Woodley (Reading).

She taught French and criminology at the University of Reading and carried out research into punishment and alternatives to prison with a particular interest in the electronic monitoring of offenders.

Francoise has retired and is a volunteer at the museum.

Francoise's talks are:

• Crime & Punishment - penal sanctions (particularly historic),
• Crime & Punishment - the rise of prison in the 19th century
• Crime & Punishment - the rise of ‘electronic monitoring’ (the tag) in the 20th century
• Crime & Punishment - a review of the life of an infamous crook turned detective, who created the French National Sûreté (equivalent to the CID).

John Oblein

Museum Volunteer

John started his police career at London Heathrow Airport with the British Airports Authority Constabulary in July 1973, but due to the worsening Irish terrorism campaign in 1974, the Metropolitan Police took over the task of policing the Airport. Following his two year probationary period, John transferred to Thames Valley Police (TVP) in November 1975, serving at Maidenhead, Burnham, Bracknell and Crowthorne. John’s interests in science and photography led him to apply for a post in Scenes of Crime and in 1981 he became a Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO).

John served at Slough for six years and moved to Bracknell in 1987 until June 1996 when the role was changed to a police staff post and he returned to uniform shift work. He was seconded in April 1997 to the Crime Reduction Team at Bracknell working on the innovative Under-age drinking and Youth Disorder scheme, known as Project Bogart, which ran for three successive summers. On retirement from his role as a Constable in 2003, John successfully applied for the new role as a police staff Crime Reduction Adviser and continued in this role until 2011. John redeployed and joined the Learning and Development team in an administrative role at Sulhamstead, finally retiring in July 2019 ending 44 years of employment with TVP.

John’s talks are:

• The Hungerford shootings, 1987, his personal experiences.
• Scenes of Crime.