Yorkshire Post comment: Police chief should resign

After narrowly avoiding the ignominy of becoming the first police chief to be sacked in 34 years, Grahame Maxwell should now heed the call of the area’s MPs and step down.

Given the seriousness of the central allegation against Mr Maxwell, and his subsequent obfuscation, he cannot command the total confidence of local residents – and his colleagues – after receiving a final written warning.

The conduct of all officers – irrespective of their rank – is supposed to be beyond reproach, with chief constables required to lead by example.

It should be noted that Mr Maxwell has served honourably and effectively in three of Yorkshire’s four constabularies, and the good work he has done deserves to be acknowledged.

However his misconduct – and the public fallout from the IPCC inquiry that concluded yesterday – shatters this hard-earned reputation and undermines his ability to stay in post, and also to speak for the Association of Chief Police Officers on issues of finance.

This is, after all, the Chief Constable who was filmed on television answering the telephone when his force was overwhelmed with between 300,000 and 500,000 calls when it advertised 60 jobs last year.

Many people simply could not get through on the jammed phone lines, while Mr Maxwell was arranging for a relative’s details to be forwarded to staff handling the next phase of the recruitment process.

This regrettable scandal also enveloped the Chief’s recently retired deputy, Adam Briggs, with the IPCC saying the reputation of both men has been “seriously undermined”.

However, it is the inquiry’s damning findings on the Chief Constable’s misuse of his privileged position that are the most profound.

It concluded: “CC Maxwell’s initial defence was that his actions were ‘direction and control’ – essentially saying he could do what he wanted because he was Chief Constable. That is an unacceptable attitude from such a senior officer.”

If his conduct was unacceptable to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, then it also remains unacceptable to the taxpayers of North Yorkshire, who expect their Chief Constable to observe the highest standards of integrity at all times.

Having failed in this regard, resignation is the only honourable course of action now open to Grahame Maxwell.