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KENT NEWS: The shortlist for the new Chief Constable has been announced by chair of the Kent Police Authority Ann Barnes.
Five candidates are in the running to take over from retiring Chief Constable Mike Fuller, who is taking on a new role of HM Chief Inspector at the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mrs Barnes drew up the shortlist with help from HM Inspector Zoe Billingham.
She admitted it had been an extremely difficult task.
She said: “We have narrowed eight candidates down to five highly experienced police officers.
“It was extremely difficult to shortlist as the Authority wants the best for our police council taxpayers.
“We have to remember that Kent is a complex county – it’s not all rolling hills.
“There are different neighbourhoods, our coastline and a national infrastructure that needs to be kept safe.
“Whoever we appoint needs to have the skills for the job and all five shortlisted candidates are extremely well qualified.
“This appointment is one of the most important jobs the Police Authority does. The new Chief Constable provides the direction of the Force and we can’t afford to get it wrong.”
The five candidates are:
• Giles York, aged 43, from East Sussex, is Deputy Chief Constable for Sussex Police. He started his career in Kent in 1990 and has served as Area Commander of Medway, and Head of Special Branch at Kent Police. His main responsibility was the policing of the Channel Tunnel and the Kent ports. He has also worked in the office of the National Co-ordinator of Special Branch. Mr York joined Sussex Police in June 2008 from South Wales Police where he was Assistant Chief Constable. His current responsibilities include corporate development, professional standards and corporate communications.
• Ian Learmonth, aged 52, from Ellingham, Norfolk, is Deputy Chief Constable for Norfolk Police. Ian has been a serving police officer since 1976 and has served at two other UK police forces before joining Norfolk Constabulary. He began his career at Essex Police and spent 28 years in various roles including being posted to Stanstead Airport. After a 28-year career with Essex Police, he joined Strathclyde Police in May 2005. In his role as Assistant Chief Constable he had responsibility for support services, roads policing, emergencies planning and most of the major projects on operational policing.
• Simon Ash, aged 49, from Cavendish, Suffolk, is Chief Constable of Suffolk Police. He originally began his career at Kent Police in 1982 working his way through the ranks. Hen joined Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2001 as Assistant Chief Constable and held that position until 2003 when he was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable. As Deputy Chief Constable he was responsible for organisational intelligence, human resources and corporate communication. In June 2007, he joined Suffolk Constabulary as Chief Constable.
• Simon Cole, aged 43, from Lockerley Hampshire, is Deputy Chief Constable for Hampshire Police. He joined Hampshire Police in 2003 as Assistant Chief Constable having previously served in West Midlands Police since 1988. Appointed as Deputy Chief Constable in 2008, he is responsible for corporate communications, IT and communication, professional standards, the Force solicitor’s office and the Resource Management Board. Nationally, he is the lead on police and national security vetting for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
• Alfred Hitchcock, aged 51 from Lancashire, is Deputy Chief Constable and Head of the National College of Police Leadership and National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). He has over 30 years experience in policing after starting his career with Lancashire Police in 1977. He later joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 2003 as a Commander. In 2004 he moved into Territorial Policing and took on the responsibility for nine territorial boroughs and held the Criminal Justice portfolio. By 2005, he had led responsibility for the safer neighbourhoods programme in the Metropolitan Police area and had delivered the successful rollout of neighbourhood policing across the whole of London by end of 2006. In 2007 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Operational Services. Mr Hitchcock was also the national police spokesperson on knife crime and in 2008, was appointed by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary at that time, to develop the Tackling Knives Action Programme.
The shortlisted applicants will be interviewed in May and an appointment made.
Adrian Leppard will act as temporary Chief Constable until the permanent appointment.
POSTED: 29/03/2010 10:00:00