After retiring from the Metropolitan Police Service in London after 30 years of service in June 2008, Dr Kevin Smith worked for another 15 years in Major Crime Investigative Support at the National Crime Agency (and precursor organisations) as the National Vulnerable Witness Adviser before finally retiring from full-time work on 31st July 2023. Throughout his time as the National Vulnerable Witness Adviser, he regularly deployed operationally throughout the UK to develop victim and witness interview strategies and plans for complex investigations. He now works on a part-time basis as a lecturer in investigation for the University of Sunderland.

He is one of the authors of the revised edition of the national interview guidance for England and Wales that is set out in “Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on Interviewing Victims and Witnesses, and Guidance on Using Special Measures” (Ministry of Justice 2022) and of the earlier 2007 and 2011 revised guidance on which it is based. He is also one of the authors of Advice on the Structure of Visually Recorded Interviews with Witnesses (2010, 2013 and 2015). He has published three books and 21 book chapters and research papers on vulnerable victims and witnesses. He is currently writing a book on the management of trauma in criminal investigations.

Dr Smith holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is a chartered psychologist (CPsychol).