Northumbria chief constable to retire

Northumbria Police Chief Constable Sue Sim has announced her retirement.

Ms Sim, who was the first woman to lead a metropolitan force, will retire in June after reaching 30 years’ service.

She joined Merseyside Police in 1985 as a graduate entrant, where she worked in a number of both uniformed and CID roles.

In 2004 she was appointed assistant chief constable at Northumbria Police, being promoted to deputy chief constable in 2008.

Ms Sim was appointed chief constable in 2011, after the police authority requested special permission to allow her to apply for the role – at the time chief constables should have served at chief officer level in another force.

She has also been the national lead for public order and received the Queen’s Police Medal in 2009.

Ms Sim said: “After careful consideration I have decided to retire; my family have made many sacrifices to enable me to have such a fantastic career and it is now time to spend more time with them. I am obviously sad to leave but it is the right time and I am confident I have left a legacy of high performance that will continue.”

Northumbria police and crime commissioner Vera Baird said Ms Sim has brought passion and enthusiasm to her role.

“She and I have worked well together, Sue has responded to the challenge of this new governance structure very positively and my experience of her is that she always, without exception, delivers what she has promised,” she said.

In March, Ms Baird announced that Ms Sim was under investigation for potential misconduct allegations. The investigation is being conducted by Joel Bennathan QC and is currently ongoing.