David Smart was a career counter terrorism (CT) officer serving in every rank from Detective Constable to Chief Superintendent in that field. From his first posting to Special Branch in 1994 to his final role as the national Prevent co-ordinator, David has covered it all. He has worked covertly tackling domestic extremism, been central to numerous counter terrorism investigations and managed CT Operations Rooms during live investigations and surveillance operations. Working with MI5 and other agencies was a regular feature of the work. For many years David was a Counter-Terrorism Security Co-ordinator with responsibility for the protection of the royal family, visiting dignitaries and senior politicians whenever they attended public events.

As each promotion took him out of CT, he became experienced in local policing, custody, response, and neighbourhoods policing. The latter part of his career took him into gang crime prevention, working closely with local authorities and the third sector in diverting young people from a life of violent crime. This led him to run the national Prevent team focusing on early intervention to prevent violent extremism, working closely with forces across the UK, the Home Office and other Government departments.

David is writing his first novel which, unsurprisingly, has a strong policing theme.