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| Police chief asked to resign despite being cleared of gross misconduct | Police chief asked to resign despite being cleared of gross misconduct |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A police chief cleared of making inappropriate advances to women has been told to resign anyway, after his boss accused him of abusing his authority and losing the confidence of his staff and the public. | A police chief cleared of making inappropriate advances to women has been told to resign anyway, after his boss accused him of abusing his authority and losing the confidence of his staff and the public. |
| An extraordinary showdown has pitted Nick Gargan, chief constable of Avon and Somerset police, against the force’s police and crime commissioner, Sue Mountstevens, who began the legal process on Wednesday to demand his resignation or retirement. | |
| Gargan was suspended in May 2014 over allegations of gross misconduct, of which he was cleared in July. But a panel found him guilty of eight misconduct counts, including sharing information that he should not have. This included sending, receiving and storing intimate images on his police phone. | |
| Gargan had intended to return to work, but Mountstevens invoked the 2011 Police Act introduced by the last coalition government to demand he leave his £175,000-a-year job. | |
| Gargan, who was suspended for 18 months while he was investigated, was due to find out on Wednesday afternoon whether he would return to work amid growing calls for him to go. | Gargan, who was suspended for 18 months while he was investigated, was due to find out on Wednesday afternoon whether he would return to work amid growing calls for him to go. |
| Related: Suspended chief constable found guilty of eight misconduct charges | Related: Suspended chief constable found guilty of eight misconduct charges |
| Three former chief constables of Avon and Somerset have said Gargan should go, more than 1,200 people have signed an online petition calling for his resignation, and the local police federation and the superintendents’ association had also lost confidence in him. | |
| On Wednesday, after a meeting with Gargan and their respective lawyers, Mountstevens announced her decision, which looks to end the career of a man once thought capable of reaching the uppermost heights of British policing. | |
| Gargan is the second chief constable Mountstevens has clashed with. Colin Port quit after she said he would have to reapply for his job. She then handpicked Gargan in 2013 to be chief. | Gargan is the second chief constable Mountstevens has clashed with. Colin Port quit after she said he would have to reapply for his job. She then handpicked Gargan in 2013 to be chief. |
| The chaos now surrounding one of Britain’s biggest police forces calls into question Mountstevens’s judgment. Gargan’s is already widely under scrutiny from others in policing and has been found to be wanting. | The chaos now surrounding one of Britain’s biggest police forces calls into question Mountstevens’s judgment. Gargan’s is already widely under scrutiny from others in policing and has been found to be wanting. |
| In her statement, Mountstevens said Gargan was being required to resign or retire “due to a lack of confidence by local people, police officers and staff in his position as leader of Avon and Somerset constabulary”. | In her statement, Mountstevens said Gargan was being required to resign or retire “due to a lack of confidence by local people, police officers and staff in his position as leader of Avon and Somerset constabulary”. |
| Mountstevens said: “Chief Constable Nick Gargan has let down the colleagues he led and the communities he was there to protect. He abused his position by forwarding confidential emails, interfering with a proper recruitment process and sending, receiving and storing intimate images on his police-issue phone. | |
| “As the chief constable, Nick Gargan should have led by example and demonstrated the highest levels of integrity, values and professional behaviour. Instead he has shown flawed judgment and been found guilty of eight counts of misconduct, including two of discreditable conduct. | “As the chief constable, Nick Gargan should have led by example and demonstrated the highest levels of integrity, values and professional behaviour. Instead he has shown flawed judgment and been found guilty of eight counts of misconduct, including two of discreditable conduct. |
| “From what I have seen and heard, he has lost the confidence of local people, police officers and staff … I believe that there is now a detrimental impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of him leading Avon and Somerset constabulary, which is why I have today initiated the process to require him to resign. | “From what I have seen and heard, he has lost the confidence of local people, police officers and staff … I believe that there is now a detrimental impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of him leading Avon and Somerset constabulary, which is why I have today initiated the process to require him to resign. |
| Related: Police chief quits after commissioner asked him to apply for his job | Related: Police chief quits after commissioner asked him to apply for his job |
| “This is a separate process from the misconduct procedure and I will be writing to Her Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Thomas Winsor, to seek his views.” | “This is a separate process from the misconduct procedure and I will be writing to Her Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Thomas Winsor, to seek his views.” |
| Gargan’s fate was plunged into doubt when three former chief constables of Avon and Somerset in their public intervention said leaders should be “inspiring, not an embarrassment”. | Gargan’s fate was plunged into doubt when three former chief constables of Avon and Somerset in their public intervention said leaders should be “inspiring, not an embarrassment”. |
| Gargan, 48, is seen as one of the more able chief constables and was the national lead for policing on finance issues, crucial at a time of budget cuts. He was touted as a possible candidate to be commissioner of the Metropolitan police. | Gargan, 48, is seen as one of the more able chief constables and was the national lead for policing on finance issues, crucial at a time of budget cuts. He was touted as a possible candidate to be commissioner of the Metropolitan police. |
| Gargan took over the Avon and Somerset force in March 2013 from Port, who left after Mountstevens, then newly elected as the as crime commissioner, told him that he would have to reapply for his job. | |
| Gargan was suspended in May 2014 over serious allegations emanating from two whistleblowers. The IPCC investigated, with Gargan cleared of the most serious claims of “inappropriate advances towards female colleagues”. | Gargan was suspended in May 2014 over serious allegations emanating from two whistleblowers. The IPCC investigated, with Gargan cleared of the most serious claims of “inappropriate advances towards female colleagues”. |
| A statement on Gargan’s behalf, issued by the Chief Police Officers Staff Association, said the news was a “a huge disappointment” for the chief constable. | |
| It said: “He has complied with every requirement of the protracted misconduct investigation and subsequent hearing. He placed his fate in the hands of an expert professional panel, which made a clear recommendation that he should go back to work.” | It said: “He has complied with every requirement of the protracted misconduct investigation and subsequent hearing. He placed his fate in the hands of an expert professional panel, which made a clear recommendation that he should go back to work.” |
| The statement added: “The overwhelming majority of the rumours surrounding the chief constable have turned out not to be true; indeed none of the initial allegations that prompted his suspension led to a misconduct finding, let alone a finding of gross misconduct or criminal behaviour.” | |
| Mountstevens invoked section 38 of the 2011 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act, which says: “The police and crime commissioner for a police area may call upon the chief constable of the police force for that area to resign or retire.” | |
| It adds: “The chief constable must retire or resign if called upon to do so by the relevant police and crime commissioner in accordance with subsection (3).” | It adds: “The chief constable must retire or resign if called upon to do so by the relevant police and crime commissioner in accordance with subsection (3).” |
| That subsection lays out a series of procedural steps that must be followed. Mountstevens will have to provide reasons in writing for wanting Gargan gone, and he said he would wait to see them. | That subsection lays out a series of procedural steps that must be followed. Mountstevens will have to provide reasons in writing for wanting Gargan gone, and he said he would wait to see them. |
| If he resigned, Gargan would face a significant financial penalty because after 27 years as a police officer he is three years short of the 30 needed to receive his full pension. | If he resigned, Gargan would face a significant financial penalty because after 27 years as a police officer he is three years short of the 30 needed to receive his full pension. |
| On the day he was suspended, Gargan was tweeting jokes, saying he was not as busy as usual. He wrote: “Stand by for a Tommy Cooper classic to celebrate a day with a rare few gaps on the diary …” | |
| Two minutes later he tweeted: “Police arrested 2 kids yesterday: one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one & let the other off.” | Two minutes later he tweeted: “Police arrested 2 kids yesterday: one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one & let the other off.” |
| Following the decision to force him out, Gargan has been suspended. Acting chief constable John Long will continue but will retire at the end of August. Mountstevens then said the deputy chief constable Gareth Morgan would take over on a temporary basis. |