Cleveland Police Authority has today announced that the Force's new Assistant Chief Constable is Mr Dave Pickard. His appointment was described by Authority Chair, Councillor Dave McLuckie as 'a deserved recognition of his significant contribution to the success achieved by Cleveland Police in recent years -- and a demonstration of the strength of our senior officer team.'
Mr Pickard's appointment follows the promotion of Mr Derek Bonnard to Deputy Chief Constable.
Born in Ryton near Gateshead, Dave Pickard began his policing career in Cambridgeshire in 1984 but returned to the North East three years later, joining the Durham Constabulary. He spent time in Darlington, Peterlee and Consett in both operational and CID roles before being posted as an Inspector in Darlington, achieving promotion to Chief Inspector at the Force headquarters in 1998 and then returning to Peterlee as Chief Inspector Operations.
On his move to Cleveland in 2002 Mr Pickard was appointed Superintendent at Stockton in charge of operations and two years became Chief Superintendent in charge of the Stockton District.
In 2006 he moved to the Force headquarters to head up the Operational Performance Team and then in 2007 was asked to become Acting Assistant Chief Constable responsible for Territorial Operations. In 2008, continuing as Acting Assistant Chief Constable, he became responsible for Crime and Operations.
Mr Pickard holds a degree in Criminology from the University of Northumbria and outside of work is a keen motorcyclist.
Said Councillor McLuckie "Dave Pickard's work in a number of key roles has earned him the respect of colleagues and police authority members alike and I'm delighted that he will now continue making a valued contribution to driving forward our commitment to provide quality policing to our local communities."
Added Chief Constable Sean Price "I am delighted that Dave will be joining my team and I know that he will champion the continuing improvements in policing in Cleveland in line with our vision of Putting People First."
Said Mr Pickard "I am delighted, honoured and proud to be appointed as Assistant Chief Constable of Cleveland Police. I have worked closely with the Executive Team and the Police Authority over the last two years and I am looking forward to continuing that work to ensure that we protect our communities and that we deliver a citizen focused policing service that they can be truly proud of."