Rachel Johnstone joined West Yorkshire Police as a constable in 2001 and worked in response, neighbourhoods, roads policing and contact management. Whilst leading multi-disciplinary teams in the Community Safety Partnership she was voted partnership worker of the year in 2012 for her work in introducing restorative justice practices for young offenders, for reducing antisocial behaviour and criminal damage on the transport infrastructure of West Yorkshire by over a third, for her work in reassuring vulnerable communities. The low cost and innovative approaches received international acclaim and were replicated across Europe.
In 2013, Rachel was seconded to the College of Policing, the professional body for policing in England and Wales, to be a part of team producing the first Code of Ethics. Leading on engagement, she ran workshops across all regions and was instrumental in the additions of the principles ‘fairness’ and respect’ into the Code based on the evidence base she built with policing.
Rachel transferred to the College in 2016 and has led the delivery of corporate services such as legal and compliance and, as staff officer to the CEO, Chief Constable Andy Marsh. She is now the Programme Optimisation lead for the Engagement and Implementation Community within the College and is leading the national change programme that will transition 50 staff from the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme into the College.
