Exclusive: No skeletons in my cupboard says police chief

Tim Madgwick delivered his promise during an interview marking his first 100 days in the job since taking over from North Yorkshire’s former chief constable Grahame Maxwell, who stepped down after admitting gross misconduct for nepotism.

Last year, an independent disciplinary panel handed Mr Maxwell a final written warning after he admitted unfairly helping both a relative of former deputy chief constable Adam Briggs and a relative of his own to circumvent a recruitment process for new police officers.

Mr Maxwell’s predecessor, Della Cannings, was also tainted by controversy after £28,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on a shower installed in her office at the police force’s headquarters at Newby Wiske despite an original estimate of £6,000.

Now fresh allegations have emerged over Cleveland chief constable Sean Price after a police watchdog announced he is being investigated for failing to report the arrest of his wife – another senior police officer – after she was detained in North Yorkshire on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.

The Yorkshire Post has previously revealed Mr Price spent more than £1,000 buying flowers on a corporate credit card and more than £55,000 in total over a five-year period.

A team of detectives from North Yorkshire Police are involved in a long-running criminal inquiry into alleged corruption over the suspended Cleveland Police chief, who has denied any wrongdoing, but Mr Madgwick said the force was now looking to move forward.

“Grahame Maxwell put North Yorkshire in a strong position,” said Mr Madgwick, who is 
the only officer to have served at every rank with North Yorkshire Police.

“Certainly from a financial perspective he set the platform from which I have continued in terms of sound fiscal planning.

“Unfortunately the issues in relation to the discipline matters and others caused issues and some staff were disillusioned with that.

“I haven’t commented particularly on those issues because I have got a lot of time for Grahame as an individual, but I believe the organisation needs to say, look, that has finished.

“Every rank in this organisation knows how I have worked for the past 25 years. If I had skeletons in my cupboard they would have come out by now – I can assure you.

“When you look back to a golden era of policing, we have the staff who can deliver that golden era.”

With police forces battling a 20 per cent cut to their budgets and a predicted growing reliance on outsourcing, Mr Madgwick said senior officers across the country needed to be increasingly mindful over how they conducted themselves.

“We have to be careful how we deal with the private sector because it is a very different body to the public sector,” he added.

“As we move into a time when the private sector may be an option in some alternatives, we have to be very mindful of that.

“I stand and fall on the standards I set and expect other people to work to those standards as well.”

Mr Madgwick pointed to a notable drop in the crime rates in North Yorkshire this year as a sign public confidence in the force is still robust. “Crime has dropped by 10 per cent in North Yorkshire, we have seen some burglary figures, particularly in the Harrogate district, drop by 20 per cent,” he added.

“They are significant reductions and I still believe the majority of residents in North Yorkshire report crimes to us.

“We have got all these challenges but what I have seen is people have kept coming back and delivering.”