Martin John Surl (born March 1957) is a retired British police officer and consultant who served as the Independent

Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner The Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Gloucestershire Police in the English County of Gloucestershire. The post was created ...

from 2012 to 2021. The first person to hold the post, he was elected on 15 November 2012. He was reelected in 2016. He was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate in 2021, finishing third behind the Liberal Democrats. Born and raised in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, Surl joined the

Gloucestershire Constabulary Gloucestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire in South West England. The force formerly covered the area of South Gloucestershire, however this was transf ...

in May 1980. He later became a detective and was promoted to Superintendent in 2000. In 2001 he was seconded to the

Estonian Ministry of Justice The Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs () is the Ministry of Justice of Estonia, dealing also with digital affairs and its development. The Minister of Justice () is the senior minister at the Ministry of Justice and Digital Aff ...

to help modernise that country's police service and develop crime reduction partnerships. In 2005, Surl received the Estonian Order of Merit in recognition of his work to introduce child protection measures. In 2006, Surl became a Director o
Baltic Leisure Enterprises Limited
In 2007, he was seconded to 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 ...

Terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and Allied Matters branch (ACPO, TAM) to help set up the UK's policing

anti-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

network. In 2012 Surl beat

Victoria Atkins Victoria Mary Atkins (born 22 March 1976) is a British politician who served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak between 2017 and 2024, lastly as Secretary of State for Health and S ...

(Conservative) and two other candidates for the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commission. Atkins won on first preference votes, but Surl won the second preferences that were allocated. He was reelected on 5 May 2016 to another four-year term. In 2013, Surl proposed and eventually received a 2% increase in the police budget in order to tackle cyber bullying and online fraud. In 2021, Surl came third in the PCC elections and subsequently lost his position as the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner. In the

2024 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections Elections for police and crime commissioners in England and Wales took place on 2 May 2024, the same day as 2024 United Kingdom local elections, local elections in England. Background Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) are elected representa ...

, Surl was the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

candidate but was narrowly defeated by Chris Nelson.

References

External links

* 1957 births Living people Officers in English police forces Police and crime commissioners in England Independent police and crime commissioners {{UK-law-enforcement-bio-stub