Association of Chief Police Officers

The Association of Chief Police Officers Of England, Wales and Northern Ireland is a membership body made up largely of senior police officers. Although not a public body, it exercises an important strategic role in policing.

Role

Although a membership body, ACPO emphasises that it is not a staff association. This role is exercised by the separate Chief Police Officers' Association.

THe ACPO website states:

In the public interest and, in equal and active partnership with Government and the Association of Police Authorities, ACPO leads and coordinates the direction and development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In times of national need ACPO - on behalf of all chief officers - coordinates the strategic policing response.

Structure

ACPO describes itself as "an independent, professionally led strategic body." It operates as a private company limited by guarantee, governed by a board of directors.

This status has given rise to some criticism given the Association's strategic role. For example, the Guardian's Henry Porter has written:

despite its important role in drafting and implementing policies that affect the fundamental freedoms of this country, ACPO is protected from freedom of information requests and its proceedings remain largely hidden from public view. In reality ACPO is no more troubled by public scrutiny than the freemasons.

Membership

ACPO describes its membership as follows:

ACPO's members are police officers who hold the rank of Chief Constable, Deputy Chief Constable or Assistant Chief Constable, or their equivalents, in the forty four forces of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, national police agencies and certain other forces in the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, and certain senior non-police staff. There are presently 280 members of ACPO.

Funding and finances

ACPO is funded "by a combination of a Home Office grant, contributions from each of the 44 Police Authorities, membership subscriptions and by the proceeds of its annual exhibition."

People

• Sir Ken Jones QPM - President
• Sir Paul Scott-Lee QPM - Vice President
• Sir Hugh Orde OBE - Vice President
• Tim Hollis QPM - Vice President
• Ian McPherson - Head, Children & Young People
• Julie Spence - Head, Citizen Focus
• Ian Johnston - Head, Crime
• Tim Godwin - Head, Criminal Justice
• Dr Tim Brain - Head, Finance & Resources
• Sir Norman Bettison - Head, Futures
• Ailsa Beaton - Head, Information Management
• Roger Baker - Head, Performance Management
• Steve Otter - Head, Race & Diversity
• Meredydd Hughes Head, Uniformed Operations
• Peter Fahy Head, Workforce Development

Terrorism & Allied Matters

• Robert Quick - Chairman
• Sir Paul Scott-Lee - Vice Chair
• Sir Norman Bettison - Vice Chair
• Peter Fahy - Vice Chair
• Sara Thornton - Vice Chair

Affiliations

Subsidiaries

• National Co-ordinator for Domestic Extremism
• National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit
• National Public Order Intelligence Unit
• Confidential Intelligence Unit

Contact details, Resources, Notes

Contact

• Address: 1st Floor, 10 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0NN
• Phone:020 7084 8950
• Website: http://www.acpo.police.uk