Keith Bristow was appointed in December 2011 as the Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA). A new operational crime-fighting body, the NCA will coordinate the overall response to serious, organised and complex crime, defend our borders, fight fraud and cyber crime and protect children and young people. It will be fully operational from 2013 with some key elements sooner.

Keith’s law enforcement career began as a police cadet with West Mercia Constabulary, where he went on to become a Detective Chief Inspector. In 1997, he was appointed as Staff Officer to the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The following year he was selected for promotion to Detective Superintendent and seconded to West Midlands Police Major Investigation Team. He subsequently transferred to West Midlands Police performing the roles of Operations Manager and Director of Intelligence, and, as a Chief Superintendent, he was the Commander of an Operational Command Unit in Birmingham.