I’m a North Yorkshire resident, so to see today’s coverage in the news about North Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable, Grahame Maxwell facing a disciplinary hearing over a case of gross misconduct charge due to allegations that he and his Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs helped relatives to get jobs during a recruitment exercise, this is not only disheartening and concerning as a tax payer, but potentially damages North Yorkshire Police’s image on a national level?
Now I worked for North Yorkshire Police for over five years, so I have some idea of the organisation, how it works and what a great job the officers on the ground/frontline do on a daily basis.
Obviously I can’t comment specifically on my time there as an employee; I can only comment on the recent news coverage and how poorly I feel these (alleged) events make NYP appear in the national media – an image which I’m sure the organisation and the vast majority of people who work for it do not deserve to be associated with.
Earlier in the year I remember reading on the BBC News website about Callers crashing North Yorkshire Police recruitment line for police officer job applications, then in the Guardian there was the news of North Yorkshire Police chiefs accused of bending rules to get jobs for relatives, now today there’s news of the North Yorkshire Police chief on gross misconduct charge.
It saddens me.
I was always proud to work for an upstanding organisation such as North Yorkshire Police; hopefully this matter will be dealt with quickly, efficiently and with as little public money as possible being spent, especially given the economic times we’re living in with cuts to policing already an issue.
I just hope the policing of North Yorkshire and the overall reputation of NYP doesn’t suffer.
