British chief constable faces gross misconduct hearing after 'rigging recruitment campaign to favour relatives'

They say that fish rot from the head down

A chief constable is to become the most senior cop in 35 years to face a disciplinary hearing over allegations he rigged the force's recruitment process to favour family members. North Yorkshire's top cop Grahame Maxwell faces a gross misconduct hearing after he allegedly unfairly helped relatives during a student officer recruitment drive.

It is claimed he called a family member after the applicant hotline crashed - while thousands of frustrated hopefuls failed to get through.

His deputy Adam Briggs also faces a lesser misconduct charge arising from the same incident after it emerged relatives of the senior officers were called back despite their calls never being officially processed.

Ch Con Maxwell is the first UK constable in 35 years to face such a hearing - and he could be dismissed if the allegations are proven.

Two staff members at the force have been sacked and a police constable has been given a final written warning for their involvement in the exercise, which was investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

North Yorkshire received about 350,000 calls during the week-long recruitment drive to find 60 new cops, but application forms were only made available to the first 1,000 suitable candidates. The force later announced that they could not afford to take on any of the applicants regardless.

Ch Con Maxwell is not the first head of North Yorkshire Police to attract controversy. His predecessor Della Cannings also found herself in hot water after it emerged £28,400 of taxpayers' money had been spent on an en-suite shower for her office. She also caused a storm after half a million pounds was spent on a fleet of Land Rover Discoveries and Volvo V-70s for senior officers.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said in a statement: 'The IPCC has concluded its independent investigation into allegations against North Yorkshire Police's Chief Constable, Grahame Maxwell, and his deputy, Adam Briggs, in relation to a recruitment exercise conducted by the force.

'The findings from the investigation have been shared with North Yorkshire Police Authority's Police Professional Standards Sub-Committee, which has responded by recommending that the Chief Constable should attend a hearing for gross misconduct and the Deputy Chief Constable should attend a misconduct meeting. 'The IPCC has agreed with those recommendations. Arrangements for the future hearing and meeting are ongoing.

'The IPCC has also concluded its management of an investigation by North Yorkshire Police's Professional Standards Department into allegations against two members of police staff and a police constable in relation to the same recruitment exercise. 'The two members of police staff faced a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct over allegations they had used their position to circumvent the recruitment process for their own gain. Both were dismissed from the force.

'The police constable faced a misconduct meeting in relation to an allegation that he assisted police staff under his line management to circumvent the recruitment process. He was issued with a final written warning.

'The IPCC will not be in a position to publish its findings from the investigations until all misconduct matters are concluded.'

Original report here




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