New Derry police commander Chief Superintendent Nigel Goddard appointed

C/Supt. Goddard replaces Ryan Henderson who is moving to pursue promotional opportunities.

The new police chief, who is originally from Lancashire but has close to 29 years of experience policing in the north, said he specifically wanted to move to work in Derry.

"I've worked mostly in uniform operational policing roles in a number of districts in Northern Ireland, but this is the first time to be in the North West. I haven’t been sent to Derry City & Strabane, I asked to come here, and I am very happy to be here," said Chief Superintendent Goddard.

"This is a place where there is an appetite to work with police and build trust, confidence and legitimacy, and I'm looking forward to carrying on the work of my predecessors in being involved and participating in the civic development and growth of this city and delivering ‘good policing’," he said.

Previous roles have included Area Commander of Ballymena in 2012, and working in Belfast with responsibility for the city centre and, in particular, issues surrounding the night time economy.

From 2014 to 2018, one of his responsibilities was policing of football and he led the operation, alongside national colleagues during the 2016 Euro Championship in France.

In 2018 , he was seconded to the National Police Chiefs Council in London where he served for three and a half years leading the National Police Coordination Centre. During this time he worked on the delivery of major national policing events such as Presidential visits, COP26 conference, EU Exit and COVID, including the operation to support the delivery of COVID 19 vaccines.

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