Tom Holmes is a policing, crisis negotiation and high-risk communication specialist with 30 years’ experience in Devon and Cornwall Police.
Tom’s expertise spans hostage and crisis negotiation, high-risk communication, crisis management and de-escalation, leadership and multi-agency collaboration, public order and major event command, strategic partnership working.
Experience:
Tom’s career includes 30 years with Devon and Cornwall Police, culminating in the rank of Superintendent, alongside more than 15 years as a hostage and crisis negotiator and coordinator. He led specialist negotiation capability across the South West and Crown Dependencies, the South West blue-light collaboration team across 13 agencies, and strategic multi-agency partnership work across Devon. He was also Deputy National Lead for Heritage and Cultural Crime and a trained Public Order Silver Commander, with experience including the G7 conference at Carbis Bay and Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Tom spent 30 years with Devon and Cornwall Police, working across a wide range of operational, leadership and strategic roles in both rural and urban environments. He served as a Sergeant on the Isles of Scilly for two years, working in an isolated policing environment, before progressing through a number of management positions to Superintendent.
For more than 15 years, Tom was a trained hostage and crisis negotiator and coordinator, ultimately leading the delivery of specialist negotiation capability across the South West region and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar. During this time, he attended numerous incidents involving people in crisis, using negotiation techniques to build rapport, lower tension, buy time and gain influence in order to help save lives.
Tom has developed a particular interest in the human skills at the heart of crisis negotiation: listening carefully, reflecting back what has been heard, demonstrating understanding and building trust, often in extremely challenging circumstances. He understands both the demands and the responsibilities of having high-stakes conversations where the outcome can be life-changing.
Alongside his operational career, Tom held significant strategic and partnership roles. He led the South West blue-light collaboration team, working across 13 agencies, ran the force’s people department and led multi-agency partnership work across Devon, chairing numerous statutory boards.
Tom was also a trained Public Order Silver Commander, including responsibility for planning and delivering security arrangements for the G7 conference at Carbis Bay. He served as mutual aid Police Silver for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and commanded numerous high-risk public order events.
Earlier in his career, Tom worked as an archaeologist and subsequently became Deputy National Lead for Heritage and Cultural Crime. He developed specialist partnerships across policing and heritage organisations and, working with Historic England, helped create a mapping system linking heritage crime with the heritage list for England. This work ultimately contributed to his election as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Tom brings together extensive operational experience with a deep understanding of communication, leadership and human behaviour under pressure. His experience of crisis negotiation has given him particular insight into how people respond in high-stakes situations, and how skilled communication can help reduce tension, create space for decision-making and influence outcomes.
Senior Associate - Transformation and Strategic Delivery Consultant
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