Cadet who grew up yards from Force HQ is town's new area commander

Chief Inspector Giles Parsons grew up in the town, attending St Anne’s primary in Baswich and Blessed William Howard High.

After completing his schooling Giles joined Staffordshire Police as a cadet in 1994 and jokes that when he lodged at the former Force HQ on Cannock Road he could see his own bedroom window.

He said: “It was a residential course, but I could’ve left class and gone home for a cup of tea in five minutes.”

He plans to build on community links and use intelligence gathering skills to fight crimes including supply of drugs into the borough.

Giles was first posted to response duties in Codsall in 1996 and then moved onto duties at Watling House and Hilton police post on the M6, where he admits to "enjoying more burgers" than he should have.

In 2001 Giles returned to his home town to work as a sergeant at Eastgate Street. It is a period indelibly inprinted on his mind as he remembers being on duty when the attacks took place on the World Trade Center. He raised security levels locally.

Further stints in Cannock and Stafford response followed before Giles worked as an inspector in Rugeley.

He worked closely with the CPS building cases, and as part of the Chase Command Team.

Giles had a previous stint as South Staffordshire area commander before working as a detective inspector in Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) from 2013.

He is keen to use his diverse experience and particularly response and intelligence gathering skills in Stafford.

“I grew up in Stafford and live in the borough still, so I’m passionate about the area. It’s a great place to live and work and I want to ensure it continues to be a safe and pleasant environment," he added.

Among Giles’s priorities is to build on the good work done by his predecessor Chief Inspector Gemma Ward and Stafford’s proactive neighbourhood team.

He said: “I’m keen to gather intelligence from our communities so we can tackle those who want to bring drugs into the borough. There’s some great work being done here and some tremendous recent court results, and I want to build on that.”

“With a background in investigations I want to help develop the team’s skills and drive quality investigations that deliver convictions and cut crime.

“I want to meet people as much as possible and understand what their concerns are and decide how we can best address these issues working with our partner organisations.”

Giles, who married last June, balances his free time fitness interests of walking, running and weightlifting with travel and running the force’s appropriate adults volunteer scheme.

He has coordinated the group, which ensures vulnerable adults are supported in custody and during voluntary interviews, for more than six years.