Northamptonshire Police appoints deputy chief constable
Ash Tuckley has been formally appointed as deputy chief constable for Northamptonshire Police having served in the post on a temporary basis since last June.
His permanent appointment follows a rigorous three-stage selection process at Wootton Hall.
Speaking after the appointment was made public on Tuesday (May 6), Mr Tuckley said: “I’m deeply honoured to be now taking on the Dep role in a permanent capacity having temped up for the best part of a year. Northamptonshire Police has been in my blood for more than 20 years and I’m very proud to be taking on this senior role.
“This is a really exciting time for Northamptonshire Police, with the recent publication of the Chief’s Policing Plan for 2025-28 and I look forward to working with him, the rest of the chief officer team and the incredible officers and staff within this Force to ensure we deliver.”
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet said: “Ash came through what was a very challenging process and I look forward to working even more closely with him. He has done a great job since taking on the deputy role in a temporary capacity last year and I know he will continue to support me and the force he has served since he joined policing.
“I’d also like to thank the many colleagues and stakeholder partners who took part in the process, their contribution has helped to make this a really excellent – but very testing – process for recruiting our most senior leaders.”
Mr Tuckley joined Northamptonshire Police in 2004 since when he has worked in a wide range of operational roles including response, neighbourhood policing, and hostage and crisis negotiation.
He joined the Force Control Room as an inspector in 2012, where his role included managing threat and risk, and became a pursuit and initial firearms commander.
In 2018, he was promoted to head of Contact Management as a superintendent, before becoming a chief superintendent working on the force’s collaboration and interoperability project with Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
He is an accredited Specialist Strategic Firearms and Public Order Gold Commander and is multi-agency incident commander trained.
In 2023/24, Mr Tuckley successfully passed the Executive Leadership Programme before securing the position as assistant chief constable, taking the lead for local policing and specialist operations.
He is the chair of the county’s Local Resilience Forum, a multi-agency partnership that works to identify, plan and prepare for major civil emergencies, ensuring the region is better prepared to cope with potential risks and recover following a major incident.
As deputy chief constable, a role which includes responsibility for Professional Standards and Corporate Communications, Mr Tuckley will have the ability to discharge the powers and duties of the chief constable in his absence.
He will hold direct operational accountability for the policing response to crime and major and critical incidents as well as the day-to-day running of the force in line with the agreed direction and vision.