Sir Stephen Kavanagh KCMG QPM DL

Sir Stephen Kavanagh is a distinguished global law-enforcement leader with more than three decades’ experience directing complex national and international policing operations. He served as Executive Director of Police Services (EDPS) at INTERPOL from 2020 until the end of 2024, the organisation’s most senior operational policing role, where he led international responses to human trafficking, crimes against children, cybercrime, organised crime, terrorism, and financial crime across 197 member countries.

At INTERPOL, Sir Stephen oversaw the transformation of global police services through advanced data analytics and machine-learning capabilities, combining 19 major INTERPOL databases for the first time to strengthen global threat identification. He directed major multinational operations—including against human trafficking, cyber-enabled fraud, drug trafficking, and terrorism—and launched the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre. Under his leadership, INTERPOL expanded partnerships to combat child sexual exploitation, strengthened the approach to Corrective Measures and delivered new global task forces and capacity-building programmes.

Before joining INTERPOL, Sir Stephen was Chief Constable of Essex Police, leading one of the UK’s largest forces through a major modernisation programme and pioneering digital transformation with the first implementation of the multi-force Athena records-management system.

He previously held several senior commands within the Metropolitan Police Service, including Commander of Counter-Terrorism (SO15), Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing, then Specialist Operations, and was the national lead for ‘Protect and Prepare’ counter-terrorism strategy.

A former Senior Responsible Owner for the UK’s Digital Policing Portfolio, he has long championed ethical, data-led innovation in public safety. Sir Stephen also holds senior governance roles across global organisations, including Chair of the Board of Childlight and Secretary General of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC).

He is a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), awarded for services to international policing and public safety, and holds the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM). Sir Stephen was awarded an MPhil in Criminology from the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Anglia Ruskin University.