Hannah

Hannah Wilkinson is Head of Counter Terrorism Intelligence Unit in the Eastern region and is the only female civilian to have held the position.

Hannah

“I moved to Counter Terrorism Policing in May 2022, previously I was head of ROCU (Regional Organised Crime Unit) and my background has been in serious and organised crime and in proactive policing.

“I’m really happy to come into CT.  It’s quite familiar in some ways, in terms of intelligence command, but I’m really enjoying understanding the different world that CTP is.

“Counter Terrorism is really interesting.  It’s the only part of policing that I can see where a national network comes together. It’s hugely supportive and there is a real wish for everybody to succeed. 

“So as an individual you get all the support you need, because we all need to be successful and while one individual could cause a massive risk in the system, it’s really important everybody is supported.

“I really support equity for all people in the workplace. I’m a police staff member and I hold a job which is otherwise held by police officers. We talk about equity in the workplace and I really want to support and promote police staff and how we use these people.

“We have individuals with a huge amount of knowledge and expertise, but our careers as staff are different to police officers and we have completely different terms and conditions, so we need to think about how we carve out career opportunities in policing. It’s an important topic under embracing equity alongside representation of other groups.

“On International Women’s Day I think about how women talk at work and I can see a real move for our female colleagues to talk more openly about personal experiences and issues, which feels very different from a very structured process delivery organisation.

“To hear about people’s challenges, their family life and to understand a bit more about the impact of their work feels like something our women talk about this has hugely enriched conversations in the workplace, which is a really positive move. 

“I also think about how brilliant it is having females in policing and leadership roles, as it brings that extra bit of quality.”