David Westwood, QPM, is a British former

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

. He was Chief Constable of

Humberside Police Humberside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the East Riding of Yorkshire, including Kingston upon Hull, and northern parts of Lincolnshire, including Grimsby and Scunthorpe. History Humberside Police was created ...

from March 1999 until March 2005. In 2004, he was suspended from July until September as a result of the Bichard report into the

Soham murders The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England, on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Amiee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a l ...

. Westwood joined

Sussex Police Sussex Police are the territorial police force responsible for policing in the whole of Sussex. Their jurisdiction covers the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. Their headquarters are in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex. Hi ...

as a

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

in 1967, and became a Sergeant in

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the five unitary authority areas of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, all in South West Englan ...

in 1975. He was promoted to Inspector in 1980. He moved to

in 1992, becoming

Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief S ...

, then became Assistant Chief Constable of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

in 1995. Westwood became Deputy Chief Constable of Humberside in 1997, becoming Chief Constable in 1999. He was chairman of the

Association of Chief Police Officers The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established ...

Race and Community Relations Committee from 2000 until 2003, overseeing the introduction of new procedures for the Police Service on race issues following the publication of Sir William Macpherson's Inquiry into the

murder of Stephen Lawrence Stephen Adrian Lawrence (13September 1974 – 22April 1993) was an 18-year-old black British citizen from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road, Eltham, on the ...

. In 2001, Westwood was awarded the

Queen's Police Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

for services to policing. As a result of failings by Humberside Police highlighted by the report into the

, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...

, called for Westwood's suspension, but the Humberside

police authority A police authority in the United Kingdom was a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "poli ...

chairman Colin Inglis initially refused. In July 2004, he was suspended after the High Court ruled that the police authority acted "in default of its statutory duty" by that refusal. Westwood was reinstated in September 2004, on condition he took early retirement in March 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westwood, David Living people British Chief Constables English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal People educated at The College of Richard Collyer Police misconduct in England Year of birth missing (living people)