Commissioner praises Chief Constable as Cheshire’s top cop announces retirement

Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Darren Martland has announced his intention to retire in the Spring of next year.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane praises his dedication to policing in Cheshire and for more than three decades of service as a police officer.

Darren started his policing career in 1990, having graduated from Sheffield University. The initial part of his career was spent in the Knowsley area where he completed a number of uniform and CID postings.

In 1999 he joined Cheshire Constabulary where he worked in a number of areas, in mainly uniform operational roles in Halton and Macclesfield. He was later posted to the Eastern Area as the uniformed Chief Inspector.

Following his spell in Cheshire, he has served in senior roles at both Merseyside and Cumbria. He successfully completed the Strategic Command Course in 2013 before finally returning to Cheshire in the start of 2017.

Chief Constable Darren Martland said: “It has been an honour and privilege to serve the public, as a police officer, for more than 30 years, and I have made the very difficult decision to retire from policing in order to enable me to spend more time with my family and pursue other personal interests.

“I am immensely proud to have led such a wonderful organisation, and I have no doubt that, given the professionalism, care and commitment demonstrated by our staff and volunteers, Cheshire Constabulary will meet the current and future policing challenges, and will continue to ‘Make Cheshire Safer’.”

Praising Darren for his work both as Chief Constable and across his policing career David Keane said: “I want to thank Darren personally for more than 30 years of service to the public as a police officer, and in particular for his commitment to making Cheshire safer during his tenure as our Chief Constable.

“As Chief Constable, Darren has served through one of the most challenging times in living memory, overseeing the policing response to the COVID-19 pandemic and delivering operational policing against a backdrop of severe financial challenges.

“Despite these challenges, Darren has been able to see through the introduction of Cheshire’s new community policing model, as part of our ambition to make Cheshire the best in the country at community policing.

“In addition, his commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion has seen Cheshire Constabulary ranked 12th in the Inclusive UK Employers Awards 2020/21.

“It has been a privilege to work with Darren and together we have created a strong foundation on which to build.

“It is a huge honour and responsibility to appoint the next Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary and I am confident that with these foundations in place, it will be possible to find an exceptional candidate to build on our substantial achievements.

“In the meantime, I will continue to work with Darren, on behalf of the public of Cheshire, to build on our successes and to make Cheshire safer.

“I intend to start the process of recruiting our next Chief Constable early in the New Year. Details of the procedure will be announced in due course.”