Chief constable welcomes appointment of three ACCs at the PSNI

The appointments of Davy Beck, Melanie Jones and Ryan Henderson, currently serving in the role on a temporary basis, were “unanimously ratified” by the Northern Ireland Policing Board and approved by the Justice Minister following the recommendation of the Appointment Panel.

Mr Boutcher said: “I want to congratulate Davy, Mel and Ryan on their appointment.

“Each officer brings significant experience and skills to the role and to the Service Executive Team. They are each committed to improving our response to victims ensuring we have safer communities and looking after our understaffed workforce and I look forward to continuing to work with each of them in the coming years.”

Policing Board chair Mukesh Sharma said:  “Appointing the PSNI leadership team is an important role for the Board, and I am delighted to confirm that Davy Beck, Ryan Henderson and Melanie Jones have been appointed as assistant chief constables.

“Each will play a key role in supporting the chief constable, deputy chief constable and chief operating officer role as members of the PSNI Service Executive Team. As a Board we look forward to working with them in the time ahead.”

He said the appointment process was progressed on the “key principles of merit, fairness, openness and transparency”.

Mr Beck has more than 30 years’ policing experience in Northern Ireland and has performed leadership roles in a range of senior positions at both district and area level before moving to headquarters, where he had responsibility for the delivery of local policing across Northern Ireland.

During this time he has taken personal responsibility for the strategic direction and delivery for a range of PSNI strategies, including the delivery of neighbourhood policing across Northern Ireland and the ‘Safer Places’ theme within the PSNI Violence Against Women and Girls strategy.

He has also initiated a review of the local policing operating model across Northern Ireland and a linked review of the current PSNI shift pattern, as well as initiating cross-border work with An Garda Síochána to better deliver services for border communities.

During his time as Commander in Newry and Mourne District, Mr Beck was influential in the Police Normalisation Strategy, which saw police move from a heavy reliance on military support in this border area to a community-based policing style, while also leading significant operations to address serious and organised crime, against a backdrop of continued terrorist threat.

One of the PSNI’s most experienced operational commanders, Mr Beck has led the policing response to significant events across Northern Ireland, including the role of Northern Ireland Tactical Commander following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II. In April 2024, he assumed command as assistant chief constable Crime Department and is responsible for Organised Crime Branch, Serious Crime Branch, Intelligence Branch, Specialist Operations Branch, Crime Support Branch and Public Protection Branch. Within this role he is leading a review of Crime Department to ensure the PSNI can “continue to deliver for communities across Northern Ireland today and into the future”.

Mr Henderson is responsible for the Justice Department, encompassing Legacy and Disclosure Branch, Criminal Justice Branch, Contact Management, Custody Policy and Justice Healthcare.

He began his career in policing with Derbyshire Constabulary in February 1997 before “returning home” to join the PSNI in 2007.

He has served in senior leadership roles within Public Protection, Community Safety and Local Policing as well as having worked as staff officer to the chief constable.

His most recent operational command was as area commander for Derry City & Strabane. Mr Henderson also spent a year seconded to the NI Executive Department of Justice to support the development of cross-departmental community safety structures and the development of Multi Agency Support Hubs across Northern Ireland.

He is an experienced public order commander and a Multi-Agency CBRN commander.  Until recently, he was a member of the Superintendents Association Executive and acted as a trustee of the Police Retraining and Rehabilitation Trust in Northern Ireland and for the national Police Treatment Centres.

Mr Henderson is a law graduate and holds a Masters Degree in Criminology.  He has co-authored published articles on police use of body-worn video.

Ms Jones is responsible for the Operations Support Department. Born and brought up in West Yorkshire, she began her policing career with West Yorkshire Police in 1993 and has served in a wide range of posts, from proactive crime operations working alongside other police services and regional crime units investigating the importation and wholesale production and distribution of drugs.

She became a public order tactical adviser and then spent a year on secondment to a national HMIC inspection team conducting reviews of HR and training.

A qualified Gold and Silver public order commander, Ms Jones has been responsible for the delivery of policing operations in Northern Ireland and West Yorkshire. She received a commendation from the Prime Minister for her work as Silver commander for Leeds during national disorder in 2011, in recognition of how she used her community links as a primary tactic to deal with disorder and prevent escalation.

This work is also recognised nationally as good practice (HMIC: Changing the rules of Engagement) and has been subject of academic research by Leeds University.

She recently undertook the role of Gold support for the visit to Northern Ireland by US President Biden, HRH King Charles III and the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

Since joining the PSNI, Ms Jones has undertaken key roles in local policing, criminal justice and community safety before being promoted to her current role in operations support.