Nine chiefs in 20 years for police force

NOW THE SEARCH IS ON FOR YET ANOTHER LEADER

- By STUART ARNOLD

IT was recently revealed that Cleveland Police Chief Constable Mark Webster is to retire in the coming months.

Mr Webster was confirmed as having given his notice to Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey after a tenure that began three years ago in April 2022.

He is the ninth person in the last 20 years to head up the force substantively, or on an acting or interim basis.

Here the Local Democracy Reporting Service conducts a roll call of the others that have had the hotseat over that time, beginning with the longest serving, Chief Constable Sean Price.

SEAN PRICE

Length of term: March 2003 to October 2012 (Nine years, six months)

Mr Price had the longest stay in post of any chief constable over the past 20 years.

But his employment ended in acrimony when he was sacked for gross misconduct for lying about the role he played in the recruitment of former police authority chairman Dave McLuckie’s daughter.

The force later began a legal action in an attempt to claw back previous so-called ‘golden handcuffs’ payments made to Mr Price while chief constable.

Both parties eventually settled the civil claim before it reached court.

JACQUI CHEER

Length of term: October 2012 to January 2016 (Four years, two months)

Ms Cheer, who was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in the 2012 New Year's Honours List, retired from policing after her spell in charge of Cleveland Police. She previously served with Essex and Suffolk Police.

A local news report at the time of her retirement said her time on Teesside had “largely been spent dealing with the failures of others”.

Ms Cheer, meanwhile, said she was “confident that I'll leave a police force which has moved forward from the mistakes of the past and has communities at its heart”.

IAIN SPITTAL