Chief Officers
Sacha Hatchett - Chief Constable
Sacha joined the police service in February 1997 and has worked within a variety of different roles across North Wales Police, Cheshire and now Lancashire Constabulary.
As Assistant Chief Constable in North Wales Sacha had responsibility for Local Policing, Crime and Specialist Ops.
Sacha took up the position of Deputy Chief Constable at Lancashire Constabulary on 27th September 2021. The three Assistant Chief Constables and the Chief Operating Officer reported to her as the Deputy Chief Constable. Sacha also had responsibility for the Professional Standards Department, Corporate Development and Legal Services.
In September 2022, Sacha took responsibility as the NPCC lead for Serious Violence Reduction and Public Health Approaches in Policing.
Following the retirement of predecessor Chris Rowley, Sacha successfully passed the Chief Constable recruitment process and on Wednesday 6th March 2024 Sacha was confirmed as the Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary.
Sam Mackenzie - Deputy Chief Constable
Since joining Lancashire Constabulary Sam has split his service between uniformed and investigative roles and enjoyed time in every rank up to Chief Superintendent within these different functions. His experiences range from being a CBM in Blackpool and Response Sgt in Blackburn through to PPU DCI and the Head of PSD. He has also enjoyed working in every division across the county.
More recently Sam has been the Head of Local Policing having spent the previous year at HMICFRS leading on the development of the PEEL Inspection and prior to taking up his current role he was the Assistant Chief Constable (Crime and Specialist Capabilities).
Sam is responsible for the day-to-day running of the force and also oversees our Professional Standards Department, Legal Services and Corporate Development.
Gillian Routledge - Chief Operating Officer
Gillian joined the force in February 2022, having previously worked as Head of Tasking and Coordination at Durham Constabulary which included responsibilities for Intelligence Counter Terrorism, Forensics, Media and Marketing, combined intelligence and performance analytic team together with all the traditional Corporate Development services.
She has over 18 years of experience in policing and has supported national programmes for many years and was instrumental in Durham's constant success, bringing with her a huge knowledge of both enabling services and operational policing.
She is responsible for the delivery of Support Services including Data Protection, Estates and Facilities, Information Communication Technology, Fleet, Human Resources, Learning and Development, Organisation Development, Finance and Procurement.
In September 2023, Gillian took responsibility as the NPCC lead for Robotics Process Automation.
Mark Winstanley - Temporary Assistant Chief Constable (Criminal Justice, Crime and Specialist Capabilities)
Mark joins the Chief Officer Team having spent the last two and a half years as the Divisional Commander at East Division. He has over 27 year's service with Lancashire Constabulary having started his career as a PC in Accrington.
Mark has worked in various roles across all three Divisions and Headquarters and has worked as a Detective in every rank up to and including Chief Superintendent. Prior to his appointment as East Divisional Commander Mark was the Detective Chief Superintendent with force responsibility for Investigations & Safeguarding, and he has also worked as Head of the Professional Standards Department as well as Operations Manager in both South and West divisions.
Mark is also an accredited Gold Public Order Commander and Strategic Firearms Commander.
As ACC for Crime & Specialist Operations, Mark is responsible for Crime, Specialist Capabilities and Criminal Justice and he also has force responsibility for Investigations.
Karen Edwards - Temporary Assistant Chief Constable (Territorial Operations)
Karen has over 28 years’ service, having joined Lancashire Constabulary in May 1995. From starting her policing career as a PC on foot patrol in Skelmersdale, Karen has undertaken a variety of operational roles in all three Divisions across Lancashire. This included roles as the Head of the Offender Management unit in Burnley, Superintendent Operations Manager in South Division, Chief Superintendent of Local Policing for the county, and the Divisional Commander for West Division.
As ACC for Territorial Operations, Karen is responsible for Response, Partnerships, local policing across Lancashire and Media & Engagement.
Karen is also a Strategic Firearms Commander and Gold Public Order and Public Safety Commander, and has led a large number of complex operational incidents and events.
Richard Robertshaw - Temporary Assistant Chief Constable (Specialist Operations)
Richard joined the police service in 1995, his first posting was Blackpool, where he has returned to on several occasions at a variety of ranks. Since then, he has worked in a range of roles across the county.
As Assistant Chief Constable he is responsible for the Specialist Operations portfolio, which is made up of Contact Management and Specialist Operations.
Alongside this Richard is a Specialist Firearms Commander and Gold Public Order and Public Safety Commander. As part of his role he regularly oversees significant policing operations that take place in Lancashire. He is also actively involved in the Lancashire Resilience Forum, chairing the multi-agency General Purposes Group.
In addition to his work in Lancashire Constabulary, whilst a member of the Superintendents Association he was a member of the National Executive Committee, this is the body that oversees the strategic direction of the Association. He is vice chair of the board of directors of the Northwest Police Benevolent Fund, which is a charity that supports police officers and their families in times of need.
Want to know more?
Go to the Your Area section to see more about your local officers.
Go to our Police and Crime Commissioner page to find out more about Lancashire's PCC.
