Former detective returns as new Merseyside ACC
Merseyside Police has appointed Andy Cooke as its new assistant chief constable for operations.
Merseyside Police has appointed Andy Cooke as its new assistant chief constable for operations.
Mr Cooke had previously been at Merseyside Police for 24 years in numerous investigative roles before leaving in 2008 to become an assistant chief constable for specialist operations with Lancashire Constabulary.
Mr Cooke is also the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for witness protection and is heading a National Crime Agency (NCA) programme to implement witness protection on a national basis.
Mr Cooke said: I am delighted to be back in Merseyside and look forward to the challenges that the force has to offer. Merseyside Police is recognised nationally for its pioneering work and innovative approaches to tackling crime and Im looking forward to working with area commanders to make the streets even safer for our communities.
Mr Cooke joined Merseyside Police in 1985 after obtaining an honours degree in Politics at Nottingham University. During his time at Merseyside, where he served as an investigator in every rank, he was instrumental in the development of the nationally-recognised Matrix team that tackled gun and gang-enabled crime.
In 2006 he became area commander for South Liverpool, helping it become one of the highest performing basic command units in the country and implementing an approach to tackle serious and organised crime in the security industry ahead of the Capital of Culture. This approach has been adopted by the Metropolitan Police Service for the Olympics.
During his time in Lancashire, Mr Cooke introduced the automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) programme, a £3.5million initiative to help deal with cross-border serious and organised crime.
He was ACC for Territorial Operations, Criminal Justice and Contact Management in Lancashire from 2010.