Police chiefs in 'jobs for family' probe back at HQ

TWO police chiefs under investigation for allegedly helping relatives who wanted jobs as officers will be allowed to work at their force headquarters.

North Yorkshire Police Authority yesterday issued a second statement on the position of chief constable Grahame Maxwell and deputy chief Adam

Briggs which made clear they would be carrying out their normal duties at the headquarters in Newby Wiske.

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The pair are being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission over allegations they each helped a relative during a recruitment process which saw the force inundated with requests for application forms for 60 new officer posts.

The police authority had initially said "that to ensure the integrity of the investigative process is secured... for the time being, both officers will carry out their duties at a distance from police headquarters."

Yesterday, however, officials put out a fresh statement which said the officers had not been barred from Newby Wiske.

It said: "For clarity...the two chief officers will remain in operational command of the force which, due to the nature of those duties, involves spending time away from police headquarters attending local, regional and national engagements.

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"They will also carry out their normal duties at police headquarters.

"The authority is satisfied that this arrangement will not impact on the current ongoing investigation."

It has previously been revealed that Mr Maxwell allegedly phoned one of his relatives who was trying to join the force after thousands of people were unable to get through to a recruitment hotline which had crashed under the weight of calls.

Recruitment packs were to only be available to the first 1,000 suitable applicants but the force ultimately received about 350,000 calls with thousands of people making repeat calls in a desperate attempt to get through.

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A small number are understood to have managed to leave their details when the lines were effectively down. A call-back list was later found to have included relatives of both Mr Maxwell and Mr Briggs.

Mr Maxwell is alleged to have phoned his relative when senior officers joined call operators to help cope with demand when the phone lines were re-established.