Ian Hopkins is a former senior British
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
. From October 2015 to December 2020, he was the
Chief Constable of
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
.
Career
Hopkins joined Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in April 2008 on promotion to assistant chief constable. He started his career in
Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorit ...
in 1989 and has served in
Northamptonshire Police
Northamptonshire Police (colloquially known as Northants Police) is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom.
The Northampton Police area includ ...
and
Cheshire Police
Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an a ...
.
In 2011 he undertook a three-month secondment as syndicate director for the Strategic Command Course.
Deputy Chief Constable
He was appointed
Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police in December 2011 with responsibility for force performance, the Force Change Programme and corporate communications.
His GMP career was soon subject of censure: in 2013 he was formally advised regarding his conduct when he took his family to watch a Coldplay concert at the
Etihad
Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
stadium on June 9, paying for five £55 tickets out of his own pocket. When he turned up for the gig, his party was invited to sit in empty corporate seats, The Hopkins party also accepted tea, coffee and Lancashire Hotpot valued at £25.
Originally, the officer’s entry on the register of hospitality and gifts stated the gig had been at the
Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...
, that he had only received food and drink worth £5 and failed to reflect how his party had been bumped up to a corporate section. The Investigation discovered that on a separate occasion, Mr Hopkins bought four tickets at £50 each to attend a Take That concert at the Etihad stadium on June 7, 2011.His party accepted soft drinks, tea, coffee and a glass of wine valued at £100. The officer’s original entry had failed to reflect his party had again been moved to corporate seats.
Mr Hopkins amended the entries following the intervention of
Sir Peter Fahy
He has also added two new entries. One states he paid £65 each for four tickets for a
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
concert on June 22. The party was again bumped up to better seats although no other hospitality was accepted.
The second new entry reveals Mr Hopkins accepted three tickets, one adult and two juniors, for
City’s Champions League game against
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
on November 21.
The officer made a £50 donation to the
City In The Community scheme
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
to cover the theoretical value of the tickets, according to the register.
On each of the four visits to the Etihad, Mr Hopkins accepted the hospitality from City’s head of safety and security who was a former
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
at GMP.
Chief Constable
Ian Hopkins was promoted to
chief constable of GMP in October 2015.
Controversy soon followed his appointment. On May 16, 2016 Hopkins had been present at a party for
Senior Women In Policing when
ACC Rebekah Sutcliffe verbally attacked a junior colleague,
Superintendent Sarah Jackson. An argument ensued between the two about surgically enhanced breasts. Hopkins had recognised Sutcliffe was drunk and had texted Jackson to look after her before leaving the subordinate alone to face a verbal attack by Sutcliffe. Sarah Jackson left GMP shortly after the incident for Cumbria and was promoted.
Police cuts
Hopkins is concerned that cuts to police funding will reduce the effectiveness of the Greater Manchester Police. Hopkins maintains he had hoped for 6300 officers by March 2021 but now expects only 5709 officers, which is fewer than there were in 1975. Hopkins stated:
The perception by Hopkins that GMP would struggle to cope led him to launch the "Citizens Contract" which sought to explain a reduced Police Offer.., however this was later described as " Complete Tosh" and "Patronising nonsense" by Hopkins replacement Chief Constable Steve Watson
End of Police Career
Hopkins career was brought to an end when he was forced to stand down in 2020. GMP had undergone a
HMICFRS
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), formerly Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the police forces of England and Wales, and since ...
inspection that had found they had failed to record 80,000 crimes, he initially sought to indicate he had voluntarily stepped aside but it soon emerged that he had been required to leave office by
Andy Burnham
Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 ...
Mayor for Greater Manchester.
Further details emerged that even though he had been removed he had continued to claim his salary
Honours
Hopkins was awarded the
Queen's Police Medal
The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...
for distinguished service in the
2016 Birthday Honours
The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...
.
Failure to be awarded a knighthood
GMP has a long and proud history. Its Chief Constables have traditionally been awarded knighthoods for their leadership. This does not include the first Chief Constable, James William Richards, who only served a brief period upon GMP's amalgamation or Michael Todd, who tragically died suddenly while still serving ). Apart from these, every other Chief Constable has been knighted. Sir James Anderton was knighted in 1990, Sir David Wilmott in 2002
and Sir Peter Fahy in 2012.
Ian Hopkins has not been knighted, as the honour is bestowed while serving (and he was effectively removed from office); it is, therefore, unlikely that he ever will be.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Ian
Living people
Chief Constables of Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal
Year of birth missing (living people)