Tributes following death of former assistant chief constable
Tributes have been paid to a former assistant chief constable of Northamptonshire Police who will be remembered for his work on diversity and his “amazing strategic thinking capacity”.
Derek Talbot, who retired from the force in 2010 after 12 years’ service in Northamptonshire, has died aged 63.
Tributes were led by two former chief constables under whom he served.
Peter Maddison, chief constable from 2003 to 2009, said: “I had the pleasure of working with Derek. He was a colleague with a fine mind and a desire to innovate in policing. He will be missed.”
And Adrian Lee, who ran the force from 2009 to 2015, added: “‘Derek will be remembered for his commitment to Northamptonshire Police and for the work he did nationally on the development of forensic science.”
Officers and staff have remembered, in particular, the work he did to reassure diverse communities across Northamptonshire in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the 7/7 bombings in London.
Mr Talbot was the lead on Taser for the then Association of Police Officers and was instrumental in the trials of the device in Northamptonshire – a device that is now widely used across UK policing.
Prior to joining Northamptonshire Police, he had served with Hertfordshire Constabulary and then spent 13 years with the Metropolitan Police Service, during which he also acted as an adviser to the Police Service Representative on the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice.
Sam Dobbs, chair of Northamptonshire Police Federation, who worked alongside Mr Talbot as a staff officer, said: “Derek was an intensely private man, who added an often challenging, cerebral and academic dimension to the chief officer teams of his era, as assistant chief constable, and later as temporary deputy chief constable.
“He was avidly interested in diversity and the different cultures in our community, and had an amazing strategic thinking capacity, able to consume and understand huge amounts of information.
“He was at the helm as strategic commander for a number of key police operations, including the aftermath of the 7/7 atrocities.”
Northamptonshire Police said details of funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.