Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Hardyal Dhindsa has announced the force’s DCC is the preferred candidate to be the new chief constable.

Rachel Swann will take over from Peter Goodman, who is retiring after a 32-year career in policing. 

The appointment will now be subject to a confirmation hearing by Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Panel.

Amongst a career of high-profile incidents, Rachel Swann led the Toddbrook Reservoir multiagency emergency response in August 2019.

There are nine other female chief constables leading the 43 police forces in England and Wales. But there are other vacancies, including the British Transport Police’s top job, so that number could increase over the summer.

The appointment also continues the long-established trend of forces recruiting from within their own ranks for senior roles.

“Derbyshire remains one of the safest counties in the country and the pressure has been on to find a driven and inspirational new leader to take the helm of the force,” said Mr Dhindsa.

“The selection process has been extremely challenging and it has been difficult to choose between such high calibre candidates. However, Rachel’s depth of experience and proven leadership will ensure Derbyshire Constabulary continues to go from strength to strength in the future and I look forward to working with her in her new role. I would like to congratulate her on her success during what was a rigorous recruitment process.”

Rachel Swann said: “I’m absolutely delighted and feel extremely privileged to be the preferred candidate the post of Chief Constable.  Derbyshire Constabulary is a really good force with great people working in it and I look forward to working with the PCC to deliver a good level of service to our communities.”