Northumbria Police appoints new deputy chief constable

Jayne Meir, who is currently serving as assistant chief constable at West Midlands Police, will replace Deputy Chief Constable Debbie Ford, who announced she would be retiring later this year.

Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Jayne Meir as the new deputy chief constable of Northumbria Police.

“Jayne will bring with her a wealth of operational experience and I know she will be a great addition to the force.

“I hope you will join me in wishing her a warm welcome to our fabulous region.”

She added: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Deputy Chief Constable Debbie Ford for her exceptional service to Northumbria Police, the force where she began her career.

“She will be missed and I wish her all the very best for the future.”

After 20 years’ service with the Metropolitan Police Service, Ms Meir moved to the West Midlands force in 2016, becoming the policing commander for Wolverhampton.

She then became Director of Intelligence, before being appointed to the position of assistant chief constable in 2019 – and is currently the force’s lead for terrorism and organised crime.

During her time at West Midlands, she has been involved in a number of high-profile operations, including being one of the Gold commanders for last year’s Commonwealth Games.

Ms Meir said she was looking forward to taking up her new role and getting to know the area and communities.

She said: “Having spent some time in the North East earlier in the summer, I was struck by how beautiful and diverse the region is.

“I also had the opportunity to speak with a number of people from Northumbria Police and it was clear they are incredibly proud to work here and want to deliver the very best service possible.

“There is a lot of fantastic work already under way and I am looking forward to building on this and bringing some new ideas.

“It is clear that Northumbria Police is a great force and I share the chief constable’s vision that it can become outstanding.”

Ms Meir is due to take up the role in October and was appointed following a “competitive selection process”, which involved an external stakeholder panel.