Three officers in line to be GMP’s top cop
THREE top cops are being tipped as strong contenders to be the next Chief Constable of Greater Manchester.
Their names have emerged as the announcement of the successor to Ian Hopkins is imminent.
Final Interviews are taking place this week and it is expected the identity of the new Chief will be known on Friday.
But sources have told the M.E.N. of three names which are being mentioned as amongst the favourites to land one of the toughest jobs in policing, with the force now in special measures.
They include the current Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, Craig Guildford.
He is known as a tough taskmaster who gets things done.
A former special constable, he started his policing career with Cheshire Police in 1994 before being seconded to Manchester to work with the National Crime Squad.
He re-joined Cheshire where he rose through the ranks before moving to West Yorkshire Police and then Gwent Police.
A firearms commander, he was installed as the chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police in February 2017.
One GMP source said: “He is rumoured to have applied to GMP and to be a very strong contender.”
Another who is understood has applied for the post is South Yorkshire’s existing Chief Constable, Steve Watson, who has an impressive CV.
With 28 years in policing behind him, he has served in Lancashire, Merseyside and the Metropolitan Police where he was in charge of nine boroughs.
He was a senior commander during the 2012 London Olympics.
He later joined Durham before landing the top job at South Yorkshire Police.
A third Chief Constable who is thought to be in the running is the current interim head of GMP, Ian Pilling.
He has been in charge since Mr Hopkins stepped down December.
Mr Pilling was appointed deputy chief constable – a £148,000-a-year role then – in November, 2015, after the appointment of Mr Hopkins, and took up the role in January, 2016.
He joined the force from Merseyside Police, where he was an assistant chief constable.
At the time of his appointment, he had 22 years of experience in policing, including a previous stint at GMP, and had twice been in charge of policing the Grand National meeting at Aintree.
Mr Pilling joined the police in 1990 and worked in Lancashire and Greater Manchester before joining Merseyside Police.
He started his police career in Blackpool and worked mostly in uniform roles across the three forces, and has experience in firearms operations.
He has a Masters degree in Police Leadership and is the National Policing Lead for Vulnerable Adults.
But one senior GMP officer said: “There is a feeling that a completely new start is required – a new slate. Anyone tarnished by being part of the old command team will find it hard to compete.”
One senior officer who had been tipped as a possible for leading GMP into a new era, was Serena Kennedy. But she has now been put in charge of another force.
A former detective with GMP, she worked in Wigan, Bolton and Salford before joining Merseyside as an assistant chief constable in 2017. She has now been appointed Chief Constable on Merseyside.
Last week Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, confirmed he ordered Mr Hopkins to resign in the wake of a damning inspection report.
Mr Hopkins quit saying he ‘felt the time was right’ to bring forward his retirement to enable the ‘timely recruitment of his successor.’
The post of Deputy Chief Constable of GMP is also up for grabs, with the current interim deputy, Mabs Hussain, being a contender.