A Knight's Tale (22/08/11)
The weekend's newpaper's contained a bizarre tale about Sir Hugh Orde - President of ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) and one of the candidates to become the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
Sir Hugh's critics accuse him of inventing his own police uniform - and placing a plastic badge on his hat with an ACPO crest.
Since stepping down as chief constable in Northern Ireland two years ago - Sir Hugh has been heading up ACPO - which is effectively the 'top cops' trade union.
But the job of ACPO President is quite different to the role of a serving chief constable - who has operational control and management reponsibility over thousands of staff - botth police and civilian.
ACPO is apparently a private company - but one which is funded with over £10 million of public money - for reasons which as yet are unclear.
A police source who asked the newspapers not to reveal his identity said:
"The sight of Sir Hugh on TV wearing the made-up uniform has bewildered and puzzled other senior officers.
This uniform does not belong to any police force. It has no constitutional or legal basis, especially the hat he wears.
Instead of the traditional crest, he’s put an ACPO badge on it. It looks made-up, like a traffic warden’s uniform."
Ouch - that has to hurt.
Sir Hugh's critics accuse him of inventing his own police uniform - and placing a plastic badge on his hat with an ACPO crest.
Since stepping down as chief constable in Northern Ireland two years ago - Sir Hugh has been heading up ACPO - which is effectively the 'top cops' trade union.
But the job of ACPO President is quite different to the role of a serving chief constable - who has operational control and management reponsibility over thousands of staff - botth police and civilian.
ACPO is apparently a private company - but one which is funded with over £10 million of public money - for reasons which as yet are unclear.
A police source who asked the newspapers not to reveal his identity said:
"The sight of Sir Hugh on TV wearing the made-up uniform has bewildered and puzzled other senior officers.
This uniform does not belong to any police force. It has no constitutional or legal basis, especially the hat he wears.
Instead of the traditional crest, he’s put an ACPO badge on it. It looks made-up, like a traffic warden’s uniform."
Ouch - that has to hurt.
