He worked in the professional standards unit, helped establish the performance development team, worked in CID at headquarters and spent a short time as divisional commander at Wombourne before taking up the role of divisional commander at Hanley.

[1] He left Staffordshire in March 1999 to take up the role of Assistant Chief Constable for West Midlands Police.

[1] Before taking up his previous role as Chief Constable of Staffordshire in September 2007, Sims was the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policing Policy and Practice at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) based in London.

[1] Sims took up new responsibilities as Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 1 June 2009, and was paid a salary of £172,000 a year.

[5] A graduate of St Peter's College, Oxford, Sims also achieved an MBA from Warwick University.