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Dr Will Keating-Jones joined Sussex Police in 2006. He started his career as a PC on Brighton Response before taking on an Acting Sergeant position in 2009. He then joined the Tactical Firearms Unit (TFU) where he undertook duties as an Authorised Firearms Officer (AFO). In 2011 He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant within TFU where he remained for several years continuing in the AFO role but also working as an Operational Firearms Commander (OFC). In 2012 he briefly left the organisation and spent 2 years working as a police officer in Queensland Police Service in Australia. Will returned to Sussex Police in 2014 and immediately took the Inspectors exam. He completed a period of Acting Inspector duties on West Sussex for several years before being substantively promoted in 2017. In 2019 he undertook a secondment with the NPCC as lead author and deputy project team lead of the NPCC Officer and Staff Safety Review which aimed to reduce assaults on police officers and staff nationally. Will received a Chief Constable’s Commendation from the Chair of the NPCC for his leading role in delivering this critical national project. In 2020 he joined the Corporate Development Department on temporary promotion where he remained until he was substantively promoted to Chief Inspector in 2023. He was subsequently posted to the role of District Commander of Chichester and Arun in West Sussex.

Will is a keen academic with a Degree in Law, a Masters Degree in International Criminal Law, a Masters Degree (equivalent) in Strategic Management and Leadership and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice Studies from the University of Portsmouth. His Doctoral research centred around the roll out of Taser to non-specialist police officers with a focus on the sociological impact of the disproportionate use of the device on people of colour, and those with pre-existing vulnerabilities. Will uses his academic background and position as Deputy Use of Force lead for Sussex to introduce evidenced based policing techniques into the force narrative and dialogue around the use of police powers and policing more broadly.

Outside of the police service Will is a husband and a father of 2 children who enjoys travelling and seeing the world. He is an accomplished martial arts practitioner with a Second Degree Black belt in Karate, a keen Archer (Coach) and target shooter. He also enjoys physical exercise in the form of calisthenics.