Mike Vass

Mike joined Avon and Somerset Constabulary in 2004 and served for 21 years as a uniformed officer and leader in local policing and force command roles. Over the course of his career, he developed extensive experience in operational leadership, community safety and partnership working, building a strong reputation for delivering innovative approaches to complex policing challenges. In 2015, Mike became the Bristol representative for the newly established knife crime portfolio, where he led the launch of the force’s first knife surrender scheme, test purchase operation and alignment with Operation Sceptre. Over the following decade, as Avon and Somerset’s knife crime lead, he introduced a number of innovative measures to tackle and reduce knife crime, while growing surrender and test purchase activity into some of the largest operations of their kind in the country. As both a long-term knife crime lead and local policing commander, Mike has been instrumental in building new community par