SITC - Security Innovation & Technology Consortium

SITC Non-Executive Director, Keith Weston

Keith Weston QPM MA is a Senior Research Fellow in Counter Terrorism in the Security Studies Institute at Cranfield University located within the UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire.

His responsibilities within the University include being a Module leader on various Post Graduate degree courses, including the Resilience MSc, the Global Security MSc, the Defence Leadership MSc, the International Security MSc, the Forensic Engineering Science MSc, the MBA(D) and Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context.

Keith is on the International Board of Advisors for New York University Law School, Centre on Law and Security and is a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ICPEM).

His position at Cranfield University has provided the opportunity to develop innovative programmes with organisations such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), while also retaining links with the Metropolitan Police Service, NaCTSO and the Centre for the Protection of the National Infrastructure (CPNI), City of London Police, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and the Fire Service College (FSC).  He has also retained links with organisations such as the Risk and Security Managers Forum (RSMF), the International Security Managers Association (ISMA) and the ‘Sister Banks’.

Keith was involved in the development of the Cranfield University MSc in Resilience, and is very experienced in designing and facilitating seminars and table-top exercises to promote and disseminate good practice in preparing for, avoiding where possible, or managing and recovering from disruptive challenges.

Before joining Cranfield Keith was a Metropolitan Police officer for thirty-two years, (not including two and a half years as a police cadet) and retired in September 2005.  A Detective Inspector, he studied full-time at Exeter University for a Masters Degree in Police Studies. During the latter years of his police service he was involved in counter terrorism contingency planning, which included working in partnership with the business community to enhance their capacity and capability to prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks.  At the same time he was a senior investigating officer and responded to the RIRA attacks in London and Birmingham, and to the ‘Nail Bomb’ attacks perpetrated by David Copeland. Keith spent two years working with the Greek Police, investigating the murder of the British Defence Attaché in Athens.  He retired as the Head of the Police International Counter Terrorism Unit, with the rank of detective Chief Superintendent.  He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2003.

Keith is an effective communicator and a regular presenter at national and international conferences.  His wealth of operational experience ensures that his presentations are illustrated with real world case studies to assist with the intended learning outcome.