A word from the current High Sheriff of Derbyshire

Theresa was extremely honoured to be installed as the High Sheriff of Derbyshire in April 2023, when she outlined the four key areas of focus during her 12 months in office.

She will be looking to shine a spotlight on the large deaf community within Derbyshire. The 2021 census still shows that Derbyshire has the largest deaf community proportionate to the UK population, with 400+ recorded as using BSL as their first language. This figure doesn’t include those who are deaf or hard of hearing who are non-BSL users.

She will also have a focus on women in prison, linking with the governor of Foston Hall Prison in Derbyshire, a closed category prison and young offenders institute for women aged 18 years and over, and the recently formed Friends of Foston Hall.

As the first Black High Sheriff of the county to take up office, it holds particular significance, as the year also marks the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush arriving at Tilbury Docks in 1948. Supporting her partner George, they will be paying tribute to those from the Windrush Generation who have made a significant contribution to the county of Derbyshire.

Having personal experience of adoption, for many years Theresa has sat on adoption and fostering panels, an area she is deeply passionate about. She is a vice-chair for both Adoption East Midlands and Derby City Fostering and hopes to encourage others to consider fostering and adoption. She states “Whilst there are no guarantees, I believe love, nurture, boundaries, and structure provides the best possible environment to support a child to be the best they can be.

The role of the High Sheriff dates back to Saxon times, and historically was responsible to the Monarch for the maintenance of law and order within their county. Theresa brings her 27 years’ experience across 3 police forces, prior to her retirement in 2019 as Head of Equality for Derbyshire Police. The relationships she has formed over the years has enabled her to have continued engagement with the judiciary in her role as High Sheriff.

Her career started in earnest in 1989 when employed as a criminal law clerk for the Smith Partnership Solicitors where she remained for three years, gaining valuable experience. She embarked on a career in policing, firstly with Nottinghamshire Police, making charging decisions and advising officers on the standard of evidence. Whilst raising her young family, she also studied at Nottingham Trent University gaining her management degree. Theresa eventually diversified into the areas of equality, diversity, and inclusion during her career with Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Bedfordshire police forces.

With a strong interest in social justice, she has held numerous positions, sitting alongside her core role, having always held a strong commitment to equality and fairness. Consequently, she immersed herself in the force’s staff support networks, holding various committee positions where she was able to influence change for the benefit of officers and staff. She was part of numerous strategic governance boards, contributing to the force’s direction of travel, as well as representing the force on a national platform. Her role enabled her to work with the Home Office, National Police Chief’s Council, Equality and Human Rights Commission, the College of Policing and national staff associations.

She also spent many years as a Victim Support volunteer, trained as a mediator and life coach and in 2007 introduced a youth leadership and mentoring programme.

Theresa considers herself blessed to have been the recipient of a number of awards. In 2009 she was honoured to become the national recipient of the Police Staff of the Year Award from the British Association of Women in Policing and has received two Chief Constable Commendations for her work in Equality and Inclusion. Just prior to her retirement she received accolades of Police Staff of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National and Derbyshire Black Police Associations.

As with previous High Sheriffs, she is keen to support crime prevention projects led by young people and encourage entries to the High Sheriff’s National Crimebeat Awards. “I am constantly encouraged and impressed by the ideas young people have to improve things for the benefit of others.”

Since her retirement, she has become an Associate with the College of Policing and is an active member of her local community in Wirksworth. She enjoys the performing arts, jazz, reading and fell walking. Theresa hopes to use her interests and those of others, to fundraise during her year. A strong advocate of holistic therapy, she holds several qualifications in this area.

Theresa says: “I feel incredibly privileged and excited to be given this opportunity. I hope to visit those parts of Derbyshire unknown to me, use my platform to highlight good causes, link partners to bring about change, and recognise great work.”

Theresa has a life partner George, son Nathan, daughter Natalie and five grandchildren.

Theresa Peltier
High Sheriff of Derbyshire