Chief promised 'sea change' at storm-hit force

Main story: Chief Constable to face gross misconduct charge

He promised a "sea change" when he joined the force in May 2007 following the retirement of Della Cannings, whose time as chief constable was overshadowed by the revelation that 28,000 of taxpayers' money had been spent on a shower for her office.

Although Mr Maxwell's tenure has coincided with falling crime levels in North Yorkshire, the force has remained in the news for the wrong reasons after a series of embarrassing allegations of corruption and incompetence.

Earlier this year, the police watchdog revealed that North Yorkshire had received four 999 calls about a man who was seen walking along a dual carriageway and was later knocked down by a car.

The force also came under investigation after it failed to stop an on-the-run sex offender who kidnapped, raped and murdered a teenage girl he met through the Facebook social networking website.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last year how North Yorkshire had paid millions of pounds to suppliers and recruitment agencies in breach of rules.

Internal auditors, taking a sample of payments of more than 50,000 made to suppliers, found that more than a fifth of them had not been subject to any competitive process or even a contract.

In 2008 it emerged that the wife of Supt Paul Ackerley, a police officer formerly in charge of training, was paid almost 400,000 for training services, often without going through a formal procurement process.

A separate inquiry in the same year found the force had virtually no control over how its fleet of 500 vehicles was managed, with no evidence of why particular vehicles or suppliers were being chosen.

The revelations came after Mr Maxwell vowed to change the force's attitude to spending. One of his first actions as chief constable was to order a review of its much criticised policy of providing top-of-the-range Volvos and Land Rovers as company cars for every chief superintendent and superintendent.

He also gave up his personal entitlement to a company car, valued in excess of 30,000, provided for in his terms and conditions of employment.

Mr Maxwell, who had almost 25 years' experience before he joined North Yorkshire, comes from a policing family. He grew up in a police house, which his parents later bought, in Durham where his father was a village constable. His sister and brother-in-law have also served in the police.

Mr Maxwell began his career with Cleveland Police, starting as a bobby on the beat in Middlesbrough and progressing through the ranks to chief superintendent.

His roles at Cleveland included working as the force's crime adviser, which involved reviewing major investigations and crime management techniques, and a two-year spell as head of complaints and discipline.

He later spent four years as an assistant chief constable at West Yorkshire Police, taking responsibility for specialist and territorial operations.

In January 2005 he became deputy chief constable at South Yorkshire Police, where he restructured the force's organisation in Sheffield and helped introduce neighbourhood policing across the county.

He also helped create the UK Human Trafficking Centre in Sheffield and became the lead spokesman on people trafficking for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). He has been ACPO's head of finance and resources since December last year.

Married with one son, Mr Maxwell is a Newcastle University chemistry graduate, has an MBA from Durham University Business School and holds a postgraduate diploma in criminology from Cambridge University.

He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and a member of the Institute of Directors.

Commission's inquiry role

THE Independent Police Complaints Commission, which began work in April 2004, was created to probe the most serious allegations against police forces in England and Wales.

It looks into complaints made against officers or staff but can investigate conduct matters such as corruption on its own initiative.

Its teams also study deaths and serious injuries which happen after a person has had contact with the police, even when no complaint or misconduct allegation has been made.

Notable cases have included investigations into the death of gunman Raoul Moat earlier this year and the 2005 shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by officers from the Metropolitan Police.