KENT’S police chief is to relinquish his job after ten years to take up a new post as the head of a new national police agency.

Sir David Phillips, who has been Kent’s Chief Constable since 1993, is to leave next month to become Director of the Centre for Policing Excellence.

Sir David entered the police force some 40 years ago when he joined the Lancashire Constabulary. He has enjoyed a wide-ranging career and in 1984 was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police.

He became Deputy Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall in 1989 before taking up his job in Kent in 1993.

John Palmer, the chairman of Kent Police Authority, paid tribute to Sir David. He said: “He has made an outstanding contribution to the safety and quality of life of people in Kent since his appointment in 1993.

"His new post is the best possible tribute to the pioneering work he has done in moving Kent Police from a good force to the best in the country.".

Under his stewardship, many of the policing techniques he adopted in Kent – notably the concept of intelligence-led policing – have become standard practise nationally. Recorded crime in the county has consistently fallen over recent years.

Sir David, married with one son, was knighted in 2000 and is an honorary fellow of Christ Church College in Canterbury. He holds the Queen’s Police Medal and became President of the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2001.

Command of the Kent Police force will be assumed by the Deputy Chief Constable Robert Ayling, who has been deputy since 1996.