The Company:

Strategic Direction was established in 1999 recognising that police service managers needed access to cost effective technical support as well as impartial expert advice. Working in conjunction with colleagues in the United States and Canada, health care professionals and academics in the United Kingdom we have put together a range of services designed to address some of the most pressing concerns of today’s police managers. 

The Company operates primarily in the Public Safety Sector where a substantial portion of its work is derived from Police Commanders operating at Divisional level. We have assisted in preparatory work for ‘Best Value Reviews’ and Divisional Inspections; ensuring compliance with Working Time Regulations; design and negotiation of work schedule changes; analysis of sickness absence trends and absence management training for supervisors and managers.

The Company is based in Neston, United Kingdom and Toronto, Canada.

Strategic Direction’s experience is second to none in the Police Service marketplace. We are the leading Company supplying the specific services in regard to Demand Profiling, Schedule Design, Resource Management and Staff Allocation to the Police Service. Working with the Service both at Corporate and Divisional levels, Strategic Direction has a comprehensive understanding of the resourcing requirements of the modern day Police Service within both the UK and North America. With 40% of UK Forces as clients, Strategic Direction is now at the heart of supporting Police objectives of ‘Best Value’ and Neighborhood Policing (term used for Community Oriented Policing in the UK), actively helping establish national standards and best practice within the Service. We have assisted in preparatory work for ‘Best Value Reviews’ and Divisional Inspections; ensuring compliance with Working Time Regulations; design and negotiation of work schedule changes; analysis of sickness absence trends and absence management training for supervisors and managers.

 Moreover, our Managing Director has, for the last 20 years been directly involved in the design, development and implementation of Police specific computer aided duties/resource management systems in Europe and North America.  This makes the Company ideally placed to advise and assist on these systems from the initial phases of procurement to the final “go live” stage, as well as undertake “Health Checks” on current systems and processes.

 Strategic Direction, along with its team of “hands on” professionals, is recognised internationally as the subject matter experts in their sphere of operation.

 As an organisation we can draw upon over 200 years of first hand experience in working rotas and compressed working week systems within the police environment.  This knowledge is brought to bear all Patrol Manager Projects.

Strategic Direction's Team

Sue Woolfenden Q.P.M., B.A. Ph.D.:

Dr. Sue Woolfenden is one of the founding principals of Strategic Direction and holds a doctorate in social administration conferred by the University of Manchester. Dr. Woolfenden was a career police officer for 31 years and has experience across a wide range of policing environments including operational command, administration, personnel, training and research. Dr. Woolfenden is an authority on absence and resource management within the Police Sector and is internationally known in policing circles for her research.

Dr. Woolfenden has received a number of awards for her work including:

๏    The Home Office Police Requirement Support Unit Award,

๏    The Police Foundation, Ernst & Young Award, and

The International Association of Women Police, Award of Merit.

In the year 2000, Dr. Woolfenden was decorated by Her Majesty the Queen for services to policing and is currently a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Women Police, the European Network of Women Police and the British Association of Women Police. Dr. Woolfenden is also an Associate Member of the Institute of Personnel Management and a member of the International Commission on Occupational Health. 

Dr. Woolfenden and Strategic Direction’s associates are fully conversant with Occupational Health and Safety issues, having received training and undertaken examinations approved by the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health.

Bill Stevenson:

Bill Stevenson is one of the founding principals of Strategic Direction Bill. Stevenson is an Accountant by profession and has been involved in Police Service Information Technology (IT) systems for more than 25 years. . Moreover, Bill has for the last 20 years, been directly involved in the design, development and implementation of Police specific computer aided duties/resource management systems in Europe and North America.  This makes the Company ideally placed to advise and assist on these systems from the initial phases of procurement to the final “go live” stage, as well as undertake “Health Checks” on current systems and processes.

As well as his involvement in the design and development of systems, Bill Stevenson is Strategic Direction’s Project Management lead.  Strategic Direction’s projects follow the Prince2 methodology of project governance. The “Project Monitoring Procedures” philosophy of Strategic Direction highlights the level of care and attention that all of our clients should rightly expect from any professional organization undertaking specialised project work on their behalf.

Prior to his direct involvement with IT systems, Bill Stevenson was the youngest CFO in the Tilling Group of Companies.

Our Associates:  

Include people with experience of implementing community oriented initiatives and leading neighbourhood policing teams in the UK. As an Inspector with Merseyside Police, Steve Longrigg was responsible for the successful introduction and management of neighbourhood policing in the inner-city area of Liverpool. This was regarded as one of the most challenging roles in the Force. One of our associates, Professor Jennifer Brown of Surrey University has worked with us on surveys and research in the UK and North America  having recognised extensive experience in the policing arena.

Our Experience:

Strategic Direction’s experience in the completion of many projects for the police service internationally and this experience underpins our confidence that Strategic Direction is well placed to meet the requirements from the Public Safety arena in our sphere of operation. As an organization, specialising in the design of compressed workweek schedules, within the police environment, we have over 200 years of collective, firsthand experience, working with compressed policing schedules. This experience is brought to bear in all Patrol Manager Projects.

 Strategic Direction, along with its team of “hands on” professionals, is recognised internationally as the subject matter experts in their sphere of operation.

Our Record of Performance:

Since its inception in 1999, Strategic Direction has built a client portfolio consisting of approximately forty percent (40%) of the United Kingdom Police Service and almost ninety percent (90%) of those services who have undertaken a review of their resourcing performance and management.  Strategic Direction has also undertaken and completed work in Canada for the Toronto Police Service and the University of Toronto Police Service.