11:16 Tuesday 16th June 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: Producer Ben has got some breaking news for us this morning. Morning Ben.
BENOIT STEVENSON: Yes Paul. A big announcement coming from the Cambridge Constabulary this morning. Simon Parr the Chief Constable of Cambridge Constabulary has today announced he is to retire at the end of July 2015. So this is the man in charge …
PAUL STAINTON: Next month.
BENOIT STEVENSON: .. of the police in Cambridgeshire will retire at the end of next month, almost five years after joining the force. And this is a quote from Mr Parr himself. He says “It’s with mixed feelings that today I have formally announced my retirement from policing. There is never a perfect time to leave a role that I’ve enjoyed this much.” And Paul I slow down here for a quick clue as to why Mr. Parr might be leaving in this quote. He says ” With a new Government in place, a new round of spending challenges to be met, and no doubt other unseen challenges to be tackled, this seems, in my judgment, to be the right time for me to hand over the stewardship of this organisation to someone else.”
PAUL STAINTON: because he’s not very old, is he? He’s been in a few times. We don’t know how old he is, but he must be in his late 40s, early 50s I would have thought, from meeting him numerous times.
BEN STEVENSON: Yes. Yes. And as it says here, I think he was a Deputy before he came to Cambridgeshire. So he’s just found himself in charge of a constabulary for the first time I believe, so it is a bit of a surprise.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. Shock. Yes.
BEN STEVENSON: We’ve been speaking to him not that long ago, but he seems to be talking about the future and plans that he has. The announcement has reaction from our Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Graham Bright, who’s paid his tribute to the work that Simon Parr has done, and they’ve also confirmed that the Deputy Chief Constable Alec Wood who we’ve spoken to on this show, will become the Acting Chief Constable until a replacement is made.
PAUL STAINTON: Well we’ll try to bring you more on that. Shock news really, that the top man at Cambridgeshire Police Simon Parr is retiring, and retiring next month.
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