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| Sir Norman Bettison | |
| Born | 3 January 1956 Rotherham, South Yorkshire |
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| Occupation | Chief Constable |
Sir Norman George Bettison QPM (born 3 January 1956) is a British police officer and the current Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.
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Education
Bettison was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. He left school at the age of 16 to join South Yorkshire Police as a cadet. He later attended university, obtaining an M.A. in Philosophy and Psychology from Oxford University and another Master's degree in Business Administration & Media Studies from Sheffield Hallam University.[1]
Career
Bettison began his police career in 1975 when he joined South Yorkshire Police as a Constable. He served through the ranks, and in 1993 was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.[2]
He left West Yorkshire in 1998 to become Chief Constable of Merseyside Police,[3] and enjoyed a six year appointment.[4] This was despite a difficult introduction when it was reported that he had been involved in the investigation of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, which was controversial following allegations of bias and "black propaganda".[5][6] A member of Merseyside Police Authority, Councillor Steve Foulkes, said the appointment of Norman Bettison had caused "outrage and extra grief" among the families of the victims of the 1989 disaster.[3] Bettison offered to meet with the relatives of those who lost their lives at Hillsborough to defuse the controversy.[7][8]
He retired from the police in January 2005 to become Chief Executive of Centrex, which provided training and development to police forces in the UK and enforcement agencies throughout the world until it was abolished in March 2007.[9][10]
He rejoined the police service in January 2007 as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.[11] He attempted to secure a package to receive both a retirement pension from Merseyside and a salary from the new post; he threatened legal action but the claim was settled out of court.[12]
In October 2008, Bettison was touted as a possible replacement for Sir Ian Blair as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, but ruled himself out of consideration citing the politicisation of the role and the way Blair was removed.[13]
Honours
Bettison was made an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University in 2004.[14] In the Millennium New Year's Honours list, he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal,[15] and was knighted in 2006.[16]
Controversies
It was reported in February 2008 that Bettison had ordered his staff to monitor his article on Wikipedia to remove rude comments or criticism, and include material from the West Yorkshire Police website.[17][18]
In an article for the Yorkshire Post, Bettison wrote that over-zealous health and safety officials were making the jobs of his front line officers increasingly more demanding, branding them "the health and safety Taliban".[19]
References
- ^ "Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison", West Yorkshire Police.
- ^ Yorkshire Post Newspaper article - 8th February 1993 (appointment) / 1st May 1993 (start date).
- ^ a b Pressure grows on Merseyside police chief, BBC, November 9, 1998
- ^ Liverpool Echo Newspaper article - 2004.
- ^ Police chief rejects Hillsborough claims, BBC News, November 16, 1998
- ^ Hansard
- ^ Police chief defends Hillsborough role, Russell Jenkins, The Times, November 16, 1998
- ^ Police chief will meet Hillsborough families 'anytime, anywhere', Nigel Bunyan, The Telegraph, November 16, 1998
- ^ Centrex Annual Report - 2005-2006.
- ^ Will Bettison be the new head at Scotland Yard?, Liverpool Echo, November 16, 2007
- ^ Securzine - Weekly Newspaper for Security Supplies
- ^ Police chief in legal battle to take pension on top of pay The Times, December 21, 2007
- ^ Police Chief Rules Out Met Role, BBC, October 3, 2008.
- ^ Liverpool Echo last week in May 2004.
- ^ BBC Birthday Honours List 2000
- ^ Telegraph Newspaper : Knights Bachelor (PDF)
- ^ "Police chief forces staff to monitor his Wikipedia entry to stop users posting rude comments about him", Daily Mail, February 29, 2008.
- ^ "Wikipedia lock on police chief's page", The Daily Telegraph, March 1, 2008.
- ^ ""Our police officers are at the mercy of Britain's health and safety Taliban "".
External links
| Police appointments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir James Sharples |
Chief Constable of Merseyside Police 1998 – 2004 |
Succeeded by Bernard Hogan-Howe |
| Preceded by Colin Cramphorn |
Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police 2007 – |
Incumbent |
