District Commander for Barnsley

Chief Superintendent James Abdy

Chief Superintendent Simon Wanless is the District Commander for the Barnsley district.

Chief Supt Wanless has extensive policing experience, having joined SYP in December 1998. He spent the first 10 years in Sheffield before moving to Barnsley in 2009. He spent five years here as an inspector and temporary chief inspector until 2014, then moved to go and lead the force’s delivery on the Tour de France.

He found himself back in Sheffield until 2017 when he got promoted to superintendent and took over the Operational Support Unit. In 2019 he was on the move again to Doncaster as the investigations superintendent, and then last year was promoted to chief superintendent where he looked after our OSU again and the Force Control Room, before switching back to Barnsley in September 2022 to head up the district.

Chief Supt Wanless is accredited as a Public Order and Firearms Commander.

He holds a degree from Sheffield Hallam University.