Dave Grimstead MSc Cert Ed FRSA

Dave has worked extensively in the field of international and serious organised crime with the UK National Crime Squad (now NCA). He has utilised his expertise in covert operations, leading successful investigations to tackle trafficking of drugs and people. As a national surveillance trainer Dave has collaborated on joint operations with customs and excise and security services, and led on the development of operational teams.

Dave has worked with international experts in the field of violent and sexual offending and led Multi-Agency collaboration to tackle the problem in local communities. He has worked extensively in safeguarding and led an operational safeguarding team and chaired Multi- Agency panels (MARAC and MAPPA). As a qualified manager of dangerous and violent sexual offenders, he led a small team that pioneered new intelligence methods to identify those who posed immediate risk. The approach has now been adopted extensively in the UK.

Passionate about the importance of a community-engaged approach to preventing violence and exploitation, he pursued an MSc in International Criminal Justice at Portsmouth University to explore global approaches in this area. Dave has conducted in-depth research of leading projects and co-founded Locate Missing People CIC to apply this to real world challenges to help families in missing person investigations.

As a Senior Investigating Officer, Dave has managed high risk missing person cases and conducted reviews in relation to long-term missing people. He worked on South West Regional working groups to improve the quality of missing person investigations. He holds a Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) and has trained extensively in the UK and abroad in relation to covert surveillance and safeguarding.

Dave enjoyed a distinguished policing career as a Detective Inspector; leading and managing complex investigations from kidnap and extortion to child homicide. He developed as a specialist investigator of domestic and child homicides, working with leading experts to develop internationally recognised cutting-edge investigations. Dave is a qualified intelligence manager and successfully led many complex covert operations.

Dave has worked as both Director and Trustee of UK charities, tackling modern day slavery and sexual exploitation. Dave has been appointed as a Churchill Fellow and will be travelling to see first-hand work on missing person investigations in the U.S.A. and Canada.