Russell Pengelly is the new Chair of the City of London Police Federation

2 December 2025

What made you want the job?

I have a strong sense of fairness, and I genuinely enjoy supporting colleagues. Even before becoming a Federation Rep, people would often ask me to help them independently. A lot of colleagues encouraged me to put myself forward for Chair. It wasn’t something I actively aspired to, if I’m honest, but being asked to stand felt like an enormous compliment. It showed people trusted me to represent them effectively—to senior management and to the National Federation.

What’s on your agenda for the first 100 days?

I’m very committed to democracy—I want every officer in the force to feel heard. We need to understand the issues affecting our members so we can drive real change. I want to get out into all of our police estate and meet with our officers and listen to their concerns.

I want to ensure we operate as a truly board-led Federation branch. I want the board to listen to our members, our council of elected reps and to set the strategic direction for the branch and give myself and Secretary Suzanne Ferris clear guidance on what they want and then help us to deliver on that.

So what are you planning?

We’ll be doing station visits and bringing in more of our key member-services partners. There are many services available that we haven’t fully utilised, and I’m determined to make sure our members receive everything they’re entitled to.
We want to get out across the organisation to hear directly from officers—what matters to them, what challenges they face.

I also want more input from the branch council and branch board so they can set the strategic direction we then drive forward. I’m not a majority of one. Decisions should reflect the view of the majority—and that comes from listening to our electorate.

What’s your relationship like with the Chief Officer Team? Will you be meeting them regularly to get your message across?

We already have a very good relationship with them, and we’re going to keep strengthening it. I’m also keen to continue building relationships with other partners. I’ve been fortunate to work closely with members of our Police Authority Board, our Chief Officer Team and senior leaders across the organisation, and I want to build on that.

Being a Rep - and now Chair - is all about influence and negotiation, and we’ll use those skills fully for the benefit of our members.

How hard is it being a police officer right now, in your view?

It’s really hard. I think many police officers would hesitate to openly say what they do when they’re out socially, and that’s a big issue.

I’ve been a police officer for 25 years. In the first decade of my career, I proudly told people I was a police officer. For the past five to ten years, I’ve been far more cautious about saying that in public. It’s disappointing considering the really important role that they have in society. They should feel immense pride.

Why is that?

The media has, in many ways, vilified the police nationally, and everyone ends up painted with the same brush. I’m not denying that some officers do the wrong thing—but the vast, vast majority, are good people and good police officers. They deserve better.

What can you do as the new Chair to help change that narrative?

I want to showcase the exceptional work our officers do. We’re lucky in the City of London - around 95% of the people our officers encounter are pro-police. We have a fantastic community of residents and businesses, and we’re very fortunate to work in such an environment.

Give us a brief overview of your career.

I joined in 2000 and spent my first 10 years as a Response officer, which I absolutely loved. After that, I worked in the control room for a couple of years, then in the data protection office. I returned to Response for another two years before moving to Neighbourhood Policing.

I then worked in Learning and Development, before returning again to Neighbourhoods. I created, wrote and delivered all the community-based projects including leading on mental health and suicide prevention, and later became the Design Out Crime Officer—one of my favourite roles—which I held for the past five years.

I’ve also been a public order officer for much of my career and an advanced police driver. I’ve had some of the most amazing moments of my life while at work.

What’s your final message to members?

Please trust us. Come to us whenever you need support—we are here for you. I’m really looking forward to this role and to working for our members. I can see the enormous value it can bring and the difference it can make. It will be a challenge, but it’s one I’m genuinely excited about.