Paul Lopez

Detective Superintendent Paul Lopez joined Essex Police in 1993 and has worked across a number of diverse disciplines, including Homicide, Serious and Organised Crime, Kidnap and Extortion, Corruption and, more recently, Cyber Crime.

As a career detective Paul has had the privilege of supervising dozens of murder investigations across the county;  between 2006 and 2007, he managed operational teams connected to Operation Sumac - the investigation into the activities of Stephen Wright, the Suffolk serial killer.  Paul also supervised the cold case investigation into the 1978 murder of Nora Trott in Rochford, Essex, which led to the conviction of Wayne Doherty.  As a senior investigator, Paul has also led teams investigating the activities of sex offenders, Organised Crime Groups involved in Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking and gangs involved in drug importation and illegal firearms trading.  He was also the SIO for a sports corruption case involving players from Essex County Cricket Club.

In 2020 Paul was selected to lead the regional Cyber Crime team and led cutting-edge investigations into online Dark web drug dealers and crypto scams.  Later he became the Director of the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre and has used this platform to successfully promote the importance of cyber security to the business community across the Eastern region.