Grahame Maxwell of North Yorkshire police given final written warning for trying to help relative get job with force
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| Chief constable Grahame Maxwell made an unacceptable attempt to discredit the investigation into his conduct, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA |
A police chief constable has avoided becoming the first to be sacked in the UK for 30 years, after belatedly admitting gross misconduct.
Grahame Maxwell, head of the North Yorkshire force for four years, was given a final written warning for trying to help a relative get a job against huge competition from other applicants.
He avoided the harshest sanction in spite of claiming at one stage during the affair that he could intervene in the process simply because he was the force's man in charge. It also emerged that he had questioned the abilities of investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission who followed up on complaints that procedures were breached in a recruiting drive last year.
Two civilian workers with North Yorkshire police have already been sacked in connection with attempts to influence jobs. A constable was given a final written warning over the drive to boost police numbers, which was later abandoned because of financial cuts.
Maxwell, 50, a village policeman's son who rose to the top job, abandoned his defence case on the first day of an independent tribunal hearing. He admitted discreditable behaviour amounting to gross misconduct and apologised unreservedly.
The volte-face ended the private hearing, which had been expected to last at least a week. Maxwell's solictors, Kingsley Napley, said he accepted that his intervention had "brought discredit upon and undermined public confidence in the police service".
His punishment follows an earlier IPCC inquiry into his deputy, Adam Briggs, who was cleared of acting dishonestly. Briggs, who has since retired, was given advice on his decision not to challenge Maxwell's behaviour, which also included favouring one of the deputy's young relatives.
The case stemmed from the recruitment campaign last year in which the force's switchboard was overwhelmed by more than 200,000 callers interested in 60 jobs. Maxwell, who was filmed manning a jobs hotline himself, was accused of advising a member of his extended family and Briggs's relative on ways to get round the logjam.
Nicholas Long, of the IPCC, said: "The chief constable and his deputy are the two most senior officers in the force and are supposed to lead by example and set the standards for others to follow. They chose to circumvent systems that had been put in place, to benefit people they knew, while others were expected to follow the process.
"Maxwell's initial defence was that his actions were 'direction and control' – essentially saying he could do what he wanted because he was the chief constable. That is an unacceptable attitude from such a senior officer."
Maxwell has an otherwise good reputation within his own force and more widely, and Long said: "I have known both officers in a professional capacity for some time and had respect for them.
Therefore, the outcomes bring me no personal satisfaction. But this matter has seriously undermined the reputations they had developed and represent a significant low point in the long-standing careers of chief constable Maxwell and deputy chief constable Briggs."
Questions over how long the chief will wish to continue were raised by the IPCC's decision to make public his initial scorn for their inquiry. Long said: "This has been a very difficult
investigation for all concerned, largely due to the senior positions held by the subject officers.
The IPCC at various stages has been accused of disproportionality. We have been challenged by some senior policing figures and our investigators' abilities were questioned by the chief constable in an unacceptable attempt to discredit the investigation."
Maxwell is married with one son and was brought up in County Durham, joining Cleveland police in Middlesbrough as a constable and rising to the rank of chief superintendent. He joined West Yorkshire police as an assistant chief constable in 2000 and moved to South Yorkshire as deputy in 2005 before taking command of the North Yorkshire force two years later.
Kingsley Napley said: "In admitting the charge, the chief constable, who at no time intended to breach or knowingly breached professional standards, and who did not intend to confer any improper advantage on another person, accepts that his conduct has been discreditable to the force and amounts to gross misconduct. He acknowledges and reflects upon the very high professional standards he is subject to and which he has always maintained the public is entitled to expect.
"He is sincerely sorry and saddened that a very difficult week resulted in errors of judgment, but continues to lead the North Yorkshire police and wishes only to focus on doing his best for the force in his position as its chief constable. He has had a previously unblemished record and wishes to return to purely focusing on that which he does best: policing."
The last chief constable to be dismissed for disciplinary breaches was Stanley Parr, who was sacked from the Lancashire force in 1977. He was found guilty of 26 charges, including interfering in criminal cases involving freemasons and using his official car for private journeys.
Grahame Maxwell, head of the North Yorkshire force for four years, was given a final written warning for trying to help a relative get a job against huge competition from other applicants.
He avoided the harshest sanction in spite of claiming at one stage during the affair that he could intervene in the process simply because he was the force's man in charge. It also emerged that he had questioned the abilities of investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission who followed up on complaints that procedures were breached in a recruiting drive last year.
Two civilian workers with North Yorkshire police have already been sacked in connection with attempts to influence jobs. A constable was given a final written warning over the drive to boost police numbers, which was later abandoned because of financial cuts.
Maxwell, 50, a village policeman's son who rose to the top job, abandoned his defence case on the first day of an independent tribunal hearing. He admitted discreditable behaviour amounting to gross misconduct and apologised unreservedly.
The volte-face ended the private hearing, which had been expected to last at least a week. Maxwell's solictors, Kingsley Napley, said he accepted that his intervention had "brought discredit upon and undermined public confidence in the police service".
His punishment follows an earlier IPCC inquiry into his deputy, Adam Briggs, who was cleared of acting dishonestly. Briggs, who has since retired, was given advice on his decision not to challenge Maxwell's behaviour, which also included favouring one of the deputy's young relatives.
The case stemmed from the recruitment campaign last year in which the force's switchboard was overwhelmed by more than 200,000 callers interested in 60 jobs. Maxwell, who was filmed manning a jobs hotline himself, was accused of advising a member of his extended family and Briggs's relative on ways to get round the logjam.
Nicholas Long, of the IPCC, said: "The chief constable and his deputy are the two most senior officers in the force and are supposed to lead by example and set the standards for others to follow. They chose to circumvent systems that had been put in place, to benefit people they knew, while others were expected to follow the process.
"Maxwell's initial defence was that his actions were 'direction and control' – essentially saying he could do what he wanted because he was the chief constable. That is an unacceptable attitude from such a senior officer."
Maxwell has an otherwise good reputation within his own force and more widely, and Long said: "I have known both officers in a professional capacity for some time and had respect for them.
Therefore, the outcomes bring me no personal satisfaction. But this matter has seriously undermined the reputations they had developed and represent a significant low point in the long-standing careers of chief constable Maxwell and deputy chief constable Briggs."
Questions over how long the chief will wish to continue were raised by the IPCC's decision to make public his initial scorn for their inquiry. Long said: "This has been a very difficult
investigation for all concerned, largely due to the senior positions held by the subject officers.
The IPCC at various stages has been accused of disproportionality. We have been challenged by some senior policing figures and our investigators' abilities were questioned by the chief constable in an unacceptable attempt to discredit the investigation."
Maxwell is married with one son and was brought up in County Durham, joining Cleveland police in Middlesbrough as a constable and rising to the rank of chief superintendent. He joined West Yorkshire police as an assistant chief constable in 2000 and moved to South Yorkshire as deputy in 2005 before taking command of the North Yorkshire force two years later.
Kingsley Napley said: "In admitting the charge, the chief constable, who at no time intended to breach or knowingly breached professional standards, and who did not intend to confer any improper advantage on another person, accepts that his conduct has been discreditable to the force and amounts to gross misconduct. He acknowledges and reflects upon the very high professional standards he is subject to and which he has always maintained the public is entitled to expect.
"He is sincerely sorry and saddened that a very difficult week resulted in errors of judgment, but continues to lead the North Yorkshire police and wishes only to focus on doing his best for the force in his position as its chief constable. He has had a previously unblemished record and wishes to return to purely focusing on that which he does best: policing."
The last chief constable to be dismissed for disciplinary breaches was Stanley Parr, who was sacked from the Lancashire force in 1977. He was found guilty of 26 charges, including interfering in criminal cases involving freemasons and using his official car for private journeys.
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