Jane Sawyers: Staffordshire Police's chief constable retires after 33 years with the force

But in two days, having risen through the ranks to become the force's top cop, she will hang up her boots and retire.

Mrs Sawyers has only been chief constable for two years, having served with the county force throughout her 33 year career.

Despite this, she insists now is 'absolutely' the right time to go, having 'loved' every minute serving the communities across the county.

She was in an upbeat mood when discussing her retirement with the Express & Star and gave no indication that she regretted the announcement she made on October 14 last year.

Mrs Sawyers said: "It is time to go, but I do not leave with any less passion or enthusiasm for policing than I had right at the very outset all those years ago.

"I am not saying that to sound corny, it is a great job and we do make a difference and I take pleasure every single day hearing about the things we have done well.

"It is the right time for the force to have somebody new and move on. Personally it is absolutely right for me, the timing fits perfectly for my husband and family.

"At the moment I have not got any happiness, my thoughts are a bit of sadness and a bit of what is to come. I am certainly not ready to do nothing but it is time to move onto something else."

Her career began back in 1984 when she was just a teenager and she has not looked back since, serving as every available police officer rank.

During her career she headed up the force's HR department, professional standards department and was the lead for policing Stoke-on-Trent before becoming chief constable in June 2015.

Speaking about her drive to become a police officer all those years ago, Mrs Sawyers said: "I joined straight from school effectively, I was just a teenager.

"At the time quite simply I wanted to be a police officer, I had wanted to do be since I was 12 or 13, probably because, without wishing to sound corny, I wanted to do something interesting, different every day, helping people and making a difference.

"I think all the sorts of reasons people join policing and that is all I wanted to do, I would not hear of anything else.

"My parents at the time said you need to have alternatives if you do not get in and my response to that was 'if I do not get into Staffordshire I would go to Liverpool, if I do not get into Liverpool I will go to London' - I was going to be a police officer, that is all I wanted to do.

"Did I ever envisage being the chief constable? Not in a million years and probably even five years ago I did not think so.

"I joined as a PC with no thoughts other than I want to be a police officer and make a difference. I have been very fortunate, lots of things happened along the way and I have had 33 years in the same force which is unusual. Most people in my position around the country move forces to do so.

"Everything just fell right for me and vacancies came up in Staffordshire. I am passionate about Staffordshire and I have been very lucky for 33 years."

Mrs Sawyer's last day at Staffordshire Police Headquarters in Stafford is today, while she remain in post until Sunday.

On Monday the new chief constable, Gareth Morgan from the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, will begin his tenure.

"Gareth has absolutely got my full support," Mrs Sawyers said. "I want nothing but the best for Staffordshire, both the police and the communities.

"I want to see Gareth be extremely successful but I do not know him well. We have met but I have never worked with him and do not know how he will be.

"It will be different, the force have just had a chief constable who has been here for 33 years and they now have a chief constable who has never been here.

"It is going to be different right from the outset but I am positive Gareth wants the same things as I do which is us delivering as good a service as possible."

Reflecting on her career, Mrs Sawyers spoke of both the good and bad she had experienced but said everything, including the botched Kevin Nunes murder investigation, is something to learn from.

She said: "You see things you do not want to see and you attend incidents it is not pleasant to attend. Also you see massive amounts of good. I suppose I would have to say a highlight is becoming the chief constable of a force I joined as a 19-year-old police constable.

"The short answer to do I think I have done a good job is yes. But the best people to say whether I have made a difference is the officers and staff who work for me and the public of Staffordshire.

"Again I do not mean that in any twee way, I do this job and I have done what I have done because I have got a passion for it and a passion for making a difference to everybody who we come across.

"My staff will tell you something I have regularly said to them is that if you have delivered a service that you would be happy for your family to receive then we have got it right.

"That is how I operate and the legacy I hope to leave, that we treat people properly and we deliver the service we are supposed to deliver. The real people to ask if I have done that or not is the people who work for me.

"Everything you do, including the Kevin Nunes case, you learn from. If I have had something that has been a negative then I learn from it. It makes you a better leader, stronger for what you do and better at what you do as a result.