Humberside Police Recruiting New Chief Constable

The £171k role has been advertised as investigations continue into the former Chief Constable.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside is inviting applications for the post of Chief Constable of Humberside Police.

The job advert states:

"Humberside Police is consistently recognised as one of the most highly performing forces in the country with 2022 PEEL grades that were the best in the country and responsible for pioneering the ‘Right Care, Right Person’ initiative providing much needed support to ensuring vulnerable people were treated by the appropriate service and reducing pressure on policing.

Our force is bold, ambitious, and following the decision from Paul Anderson to retire, now in search of its next Chief Constable."

Mr Anderson retired from the role on June 25th after 34 years in policing and five years in senior roles at Humberside. A day later the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner announced it had referred allegations of potential misconduct to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).

A report being presented to the Humberside Police and Crime Panel on Thursday states that the allegations are “largely related to communication and behaviour towards colleagues”.

In a statement the OPCC said:

"On Wednesday 12th June, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) received details of potential misconduct relating to the Chief Constable. Following further enquiries and due consideration it became apparent that the OPCC was obliged to refer the matter to the IOPC and this was done on Monday 24th June 2024.

Confirmation was received by the OPCC late on Tuesday 25th June 2024 that the IOPC had begun an independent investigation.

The IOPC investigation will continue notwithstanding Paul Anderson’s retirement."

The Police and Crime Commissioner has appointed Judi Heaton QPM to act as temporary cheif constable while the recruitment process for a new Chief continues.

Speaking of the appointment, Jonathan Evison PCC said,

‘I am delighted to welcome Judi Heaton back to Humberside Police in the role of Temporary Chief Constable. Her ambition for the area, passion for policing and public service provides me with much confidence that the Force has the right leadership during a period which could be unsettling. We want to ensure our communities continue to benefit from a high performing Police Force.’

Judi Heaton, QPM, Temporary Chief Constable said,

‘I am honoured to have been invited by the PCC to fulfil this important interim role. I hope to bring some stability to Humberside Police and enable staff and officers to continue to provide the best policing services to the public.’

Judi joined Humberside Police in 1991 as a Constable in Scunthorpe. She went on to have many roles in the force mainly as a detective and was promoted to Inspector.

In 2001 she transferred to Cheshire Constabulary again mainly in detective roles as an Inspector and Chief Inspector. During this time she studied for and was awarded a Master of Science degree in Police Management and Leadership.

She transferred back to Humberside Police in 2006 and once again had a variety of detective roles as a Superintendent.

She was the Divisional Commander of East Riding of Yorkshire initially, before being the Head of Crime and then Head of Professional Standards (conduct).

She was also the Chief of Staff working with the then Chief Constable Lee Freeman and chief officers on the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary inspection which took Humberside Police’s rating from poor to good.

During this time, she was also a Specialist Strategic Firearms Commander and assessor of such commanders.

In 2020 Judi went on the strategic command course to become a chief officer and became the Assistant Chief Constable in Police Scotland with portfolios in Major Crime, Public Protection and Safeguarding, Forensics, Biometrics and Local Crime. She also managed the National Police Chief’s Council portfolio called HOLMES which is the IT system for major investigations.

During her service she has overseen change projects, high profile, sensitive, and complex investigations as well as multi agency responses to critical and major incidents and was part of the command team policing COP26 hosted by Glasgow.

She is keen on inclusion and opportunity and has helped many under-represented groups both locally and nationally and has been a speaker at several events.

Upon her retirement she was awarded the Queens Police Medal for services to policing.

Prior to this appointment Judi was retired and involved with local charities.

The recruitment pack for the Chief Constable role includes a video aiming to attract applicants from around the country

Applications close on August 9th, there is a recruitment pack at www.humberside-pcc.gov.uk/Document-Library/Recruitment/Chief-Constable-2024/OPCC-ChiefConstable-RecruitmentPack-2024-V3.pdf