North Yorkshire Police name new interim chief constable (From York Press)

North Yorkshire Police name new interim chief constable

3:04pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in News By Jennifer Bell, jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk

ONE of North Yorkshire Police’s most senior officers is to take temporary charge of the force when its current Chief Constable retires.

Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick will assume the role following the departure of Grahame Maxwell later this year after the force was denied permission to make a longer appointment.

Mr Maxwell admitted gross misconduct last year in helping a relative during a recruitment drive.

A permanent Chief Constable will be chosen when North Yorkshire’s new Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is elected in November, as the Home Office has ruled they should have the final say.

Jane Kenyon, chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Authority, welcomed Mr Magwick’s new role, saying: “He is a talented officer and clearly has the support of the authority and the force and is highly regarded by his senior colleagues and others both within and outside North Yorkshire Police.

“We applied initially for the approval of the Home Secretary to make an appointment for a longer period – our judgement being that the organisation would benefit from the certainty of longer term leadership - but that request was denied.

“It is clearly the Home Secretary’s desire that incoming PCCs should be in a position to make those appointments and the authority’s decision today supports that.”

Mr Madgwick, who has been with North Yorkshire Police for 23 years, has been fulfilling the role of Deputy Chief Constable since June last year and previously held the ranks of Assistant Chief Constable, chief superintendent and York and Selby commander.

He said he was “delighted” with his new position, adding: “‘I am honoured to be offered this opportunity to serve the people of North Yorkshire and the City of York as the temporary Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police and look forward to taking up the post in the near future.”

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell – a career policeman with 29 years' service behind him - was appointed to the top job at North Yorkshire in 2007, after serving as Deputy Chief Constable in South Yorkshire. He will leave his £133,000 a year post in May.