Detective Inspector Upile Mtitimila
Cheshire Constabulary
“I CHANGED THE WAY OUR OFFICERS
THINK ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN AND GIRLS – AND GAVE
OFFICERS THE CONFIDENCE TO
ACT SOONER”
Upile didn’t grow up trusting the police. His own experiences of being stopped and searched
– combined with the low confidence in policing in his community – made him sceptical. But he
also believed things could change and he wanted to be a part of that change.
Since joining, Upile has made a powerful impact on victim support, community safety and the
culture of policing, and driven exceptional innovation in tackling Violence Against Women and
Girls (VAWG).
Now an Inspector, Upile has co-chaired the Cheshire Constabulary’s Multicultural Network,
completed a masters in Policing Policy and Leadership, and joined Police Now’s Future Insight
Committee. He won a Policing Excellence award for Innovation after closing eleven properties
linked to anti-social behaviour (ASB) and drug crime in just one year. And he developed best-
practice guidance for premise-closures, now used force-wide.
His proudest achievement? Leading a major operation to tackle VAWG in Warrington,
a project that transformed how officers respond to predatory behaviour.
He recognised that although early warning signs of predatory behaviour were often identified,
police lacked the powers to intervene until the behaviour become more serious. By re-framing
these early signs as antisocial behaviour, Upile was able to use existing ASB legislation to
intervene sooner and protect people before things escalated. He trained neighbourhood
teams across the force to do the same.
“We changed the way our force thinks about these incidents – and gave officers the
confidence to act sooner.”
Soon after, Warrington was named the UK’s safest town to live in.
Upile still credits Police Now’s training and values with his success.
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TRANSFORMATION 2: TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH SUPPORTING VICTIMS