David Cook

David is currently seconded to the College of Policing, where he serves as a Subject Matter Expert in Joint Operations and National Structured Debriefing. He has 26 years’ service with the Metropolitan Police, the last 12 of which have been spent specialising in Emergency Preparedness. During this time, he has led the preparation of police colleagues and partner agencies to respond to, and recover from, Major Incidents and terrorist attacks. This capability proved critical in 2016/17, when London faced an unprecedented number of high‑profile traumatic incidents, including the Croydon Tram Crash, Grenfell Tower fire and a series of terrorist attacks.

David is a qualified National Interagency Liaison Officer (NILO) and Emergency Preparedness Officer, providing expert advice on Civil Contingencies, JESIP, and police policy to commanders during major incidents and significant events

A qualified JESIP trainer, David has been delivering training for over 14 years at both strategic and tactical levels since JESIP’s inception in 2012. He has delivered this training across London and nationally to multi‑agency partners and government officials, supporting preparedness for major events such as the Queen’s Funeral and the King’s Coronation. He has also delivered “train the trainer” programmes for the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man and Guernsey, as well as across the UK to fire, ambulance, and military personnel.

David has regularly presented on London’s preparedness posture both nationally and internationally. This includes presenting at the Seven Cities Security Network in Copenhagen and at a United Nations‑supported conference in Brasília, titled “Crisis Management and Use of Special Measures”, where he shared London’s approach to managing major incidents and terrorist attacks.

As part of his preparedness work, David has designed and delivered a wide range of exercises, from tabletop scenarios to large‑scale live terrorist simulations, ensuring that JESIP principles remain central to responder decision‑making, even in the early chaos of traumatic incidents.

David is now the UK Policing National Structured Debrief Coordinator, responsible for ensuring that debriefs following major incidents and significant events are conducted to a consistent and high standard. These debriefs underpin organisational learning and enable meaningful corporate change—often the most challenging, yet critical, outcome of major incident response.