Leadership and team
The National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) leadership is comprised of highly skilled officers from across UK policing, with a wealth of experience in event planning and police operations.
The most senior leader of NPoCC is Strategic Lead Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, who is also the National Mobilisation Coordinator (NMC).
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams is the Strategic Lead for the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC). His role is integral to enhancing policing nationally, but also across the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories. He is the National Mobilisation Coordinator, and is responsible for Strategic Intelligence and Briefing. In addition, he Chairs the National Police Chiefs' Council Civil Contingencies portfolio, and works closely with lead government departments and key stakeholders to enhance preparedness for civil emergencies.
Mark joined Lothian and Borders Police in 1993 and was Divisional Commander of Edinburgh City upon the inception of Police Scotland in 2013.
He was promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief Constable in 2015, initially undertaking responsibility for local policing in the West of Scotland before moving to his previous role as Head of Operational Support Division in 2018.
ACC Williams was the Police Scotland lead and Strategic Co-ordination Group chair for EU Exit; the strategic partnership lead in respect of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and he was recently the Gold Commander for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
He has extensive experience as an major events commander, Strategic Firearms Commander and Gold Public Order Commander.
Originally from Canberra in Australia, Matt has spent the majority of his service in uniform and operational policing. He is a tactical and strategic firearms commander, strategic public order commander, and for 23 years was a Hostage and Crisis Negotiator.
As the Local Policing Commander for Exeter in Devon he coordinated the response to a terrorist incident that was highly commended in the World Class Policing Awards, and his most recent role prior to joining NPoCC in January 2022, was the Head of Specialist Operations covering both Devon and Cornwall and Dorset Police force areas.
Matt was the Silver Commander for Devon and Cornwall’s COVID-19 response in 2020, was the ‘planning Silver’ for the G7 Summit in St Ives in Cornwall, and in December 2021 led a peer review team to support the planning for the Commonwealth Games. He is currently the national lead for the development of Operation Keel – a national operation for the policing and partnership response to maritime incidents.
Matt oversees the Operations and Strategic Intelligence and Briefing (SIB) functions within NPoCC and supports the National Mobilisation Coordinator (NMC) in mobilisation, government liaison, and strategic coordination - supporting Forces across England and Wales, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
Kris has 27 years police service, having joined Norfolk Constabulary in 1997. Having served initially at various stations across Norfolk as a constable and then a sergeant, Kris became a Tactical Firearms Commander in 2005 and operated as a Force Incident Manager and then as the Force Firearms Inspector within Specialist Operations. Kris has accredited and practiced as a Counter Terrorist Security Coordinator and a Post Incident Manager. After seven years working within Royalty and VIP Protection, Kris returned to Specialist Operations on promotion to Chief Inspector where he led the joint Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary Roads and Armed Policing Team, along with other specialist units.
On promotion to Superintendent in 2021, Kris became the South Norfolk and Broadland District Commander where he oversaw significant change in collocating part of his team with local authority partners, and the introduction of a district crime unit. Kris is an accredited Tactical Firearms Commander, Public Order & Public Safety Commander and CBRN Silver Commander, he has led many high-profile operations across Norfolk and Suffolk including the policing response to the death of HM The Queen in 2022, large music festivals, high-risk football matches and armed operations.
In 2023, Kris was posted to head of joint specialist operations for Norfolk and Suffolk where he has overseen the introduction of a new shift pattern for roads and armed officers and a review of Taser training across the two counties.