Chief Inspector Kelly Gardner – Deputy Commander for Milton Keynes Local Policing Area
Kelly grew up in Milton Keynes and after leaving school trained to become a Registered Paediatric Nurse. She practiced for 11 years and went on to become a Specialised Paediatric Community Nurse for a Children’s Hospice.
Kelly joined Thames Valley Police as a response officer at Milton Keynes in 2004, since then she has performed a variety of roles across the force. She returned to Milton Keynes in September 2019 as the Deputy LPA Commander.
She is also mum to Luke (23), who has just become a primary school teacher and her husband is an Inspector with Bedfordshire Police. Over the past 16 years, Kelly has gained valuable experience working in: Response, Partnership and Performance, CID, Protecting Vulnerable People – ViSOR and worked on a number of Headquarter change projects. Along the way, Kelly has become a Family Liaison Officer (FLO) and Hostage and Crisis Negotiator as well as learning to balance: Flexible working patterns . Promotion . Long term illness . Mentoring . Numerous on call rotas. She is also part of the executive committee for the Thames Valley Police Women’s Network.
In 2020 Kelly won the Women’s Leaders Public Services Award which recognises outstanding women leaders in the Milton Keynes Area.
Those who have worked with or know Kelly personally, like myself, know this award was well deserved but I am certain Kelly would say, and always with a smile, she is just playing her part and doing her job.
Kelly we salute you.