New Chief Constable wants to make Northamptonshire 'safest place in the UK'

Northamptonshire Police has officially appointed a new Chief Constable for the force, more than a year after disgraced ex-police chief Nick Adderley was suspended under investigation.

The new top cop Ivan Balhatchet has hit the ground running, laying out his priorities to get police officers back into towns and villages in his bid to make the county the “safest place in the UK”. The county’s Police Fire and Crime (PFC) panel has confirmed in writing that they accepted Commissioner Danielle Stone’s appointment, after questioning the Northants police chief at a meeting on Monday (January 27).

Mr Balhatchet will take the position on from dismissed ex-copper Nick Adderley. Though Mr Adderley was only sacked in June 2024 after being found to have committed gross misconduct, Mr Balhatchet has held the Chief Constable position on an interim basis since October 2023.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) about his priorities as the Chief Constable, the top cop admitted that the force’s reputation had been damaged by scandals involving Mr Adderley and the former Police Fire and Crime Commissioner.

He explained: “In the last 15 months, it’s been the most difficult time probably in Northamptonshire policing’s history. There’s no doubt that for some of my officers, it will make some of their jobs harder. They have had comments or views about them because of what has happened in the county which is completely unfair.

“The vast majority of my officers and staff are brilliant people doing great work all the time. It is about being transparent and being honest and actually apologising to the public for what’s happened in Northamptonshire, which they do deserve.”

He added that since Nick Adderley’s dismissal, every person who has claimed professional qualifications, academic qualifications, and military records has been physically checked. He also said that they will continue to work on standards and behaviour at all levels and currently have more suspensions than ever to get to grips and deal with staff who “shouldn’t be there”.

‘We’ve got to get back into towns and villages’

Mr Balhatchet originally joined Northamptonshire Police in 2000, working as a Police Constable in Wellingborough. He said it was “important” for the county to have a Chief Constable who was born and raised in Northamptonshire and knows the area.

The police chief has also stated that one of the ways he would look to rebuild trust was to make officers more visible and accessible to the public.

“Many police forces have had to make difficult decisions around finance and estates and I don’t think there’ll be a police force out there that hasn’t reduced its police stations. I do look back and I think closing stations such as Corby and Kettering, I struggle in thinking that was the right thing to do whatever the challenges were.

“I believe my town centre teams are too small, therefore they’re not able to respond or give that service all the time that retailers and members of the public want. We’ve got to get back into towns and villages so people know who their local officers are and who to contact.

“We have got a reality that it’s a big mission to start rebuilding police stations in town centres. What we can do is do much smaller hubs located in the right places around the county. Difficult decisions have been made and perhaps sometimes we haven’t always listened to the public and what they need.”

He said that six partnership hubs have been identified across the county to bring officers back into communities. A new three-year plan for policing will be launched in the next month, laying out key priorities such as stopping violence against women and girls, child protection, and tackling serious and organised crime and neighbourhood crime.