Peter Fahy
Sir Peter Fahy | |
|---|---|
 Sir Peter during a visit to the University of Salford in 2012 | |
| Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police | |
| In office 1 September 2008 – 30 October 2015 | |
| Deputy | Simon Byrne Ian Hopkins |
| Preceded by | Michael J. Todd David Whatton (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Ian Hopkins |
| Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary | |
| In office 2002 – 31 October 2008 | |
| Succeeded by | Graeme Gerrard (Acting) David Whatton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 January 1959[1] London, England |
| Spouse | Jenny Fahy |
| Alma mater | University of Hull University of East Anglia |
Sir Peter Martin Fahy QPM (born 18 January 1959 in London, England) is a retired senior British police officer. He was the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP),[2] the United Kingdom's third largest police force. He retired from the police force on 23 October 2015 after serving for 34 years.[3]
Early life and education[edit]
Fahy holds a degree in French and Spanish from the University of Hull, and a master's degree from the University of East Anglia.[1]
Police career[edit]
He joined the police in 1981, and was the ACPO spokesman on workforce development.[4]
Before taking up this post at GMP on 1 September 2008, he was the Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary, a post he held since 2002. He had been Assistant Chief Constable at Surrey and had had positions with Hertfordshire and West Midlands forces.[5]
Fahy has previously expressed his frustration at red tape which has been creeping into police forces across the United Kingdom. In July 2011, Fahy commanded his officers to use their common sense and criticised police policies which prevents the police from helping victims or protecting the public in certain cases.[6] In July 2011, Fahy was one of the frontrunners to replace Sir Paul Stephenson as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner[7] but Fahy ruled himself out of that position.[8]
In July 2013, it was announced that his contract had been extended for a further three years by the Greater Manchester Police Commissioner Tony Lloyd. After 30 years service, Fahy was eligible for retirement, and his contract would have ended on 31 August 2013.[9]
Fahy was the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead of Specials Constabulary.
In January 2014, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that they would be prosecuting him under health and safety legislation over the death of Anthony Grainger.[10][11]
However, in January 2015, William Boyce QC, at Liverpool Crown Court accepted an 'abuse of process' argument from the defence.[12]
Later life[edit]
In October 2015, Fahy was appointed an Honorary Professor of Criminal Justice by the University of Manchester.[13] He gave his first public lecture on 11 November 2015. It was entitled; Thinking about police and public in a more divided world: reflections on 34 years of policing.[14]
Peter Fahy became Chair of trustees of the charity We Stand Together in November 2017. He had originally established the #WeStandTogether campaign in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting and other attacks across Europe. We Stand Together was established as a charity in May 2018 in response to the Manchester Arena Attack.
In March 2021, Fahy criticised the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which he argued was a politically-motivated reaction to Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion protests.[15]
Honours[edit]
Fahy was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours 'for services to policing'.[16][17]
| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
|
Knight Bachelor (Kt) |
|
|
Queen's Police Medal (QPM) |
|
|
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal |
|
|
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal |
|
|
Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal |
- In 2018 he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the University of Chester.[19]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "FAHY, Sir Peter: Who's Who". Retrieved 13 March 2013..
- ^ "Manchester police chief revealed". BBC News website. 23 July 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "Honorary role for Sir Peter Fahy at University of Manchester". BBC News website. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Our Structure". ACPO website. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "Fahy new Chief Constable". Manchester Evening News website. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "Manchester police officers ordered to ditch red tape". BBC. 9 June 2011.
- ^ "GMP boss among favourites for Met job". theboltonnews.co.uk. 5 August 2011.
- ^ "Peter Fahy rules himself out of Met commissioner contest". BBC News. 21 July 2011.
- ^ Williams, Jennifer (17 July 2013). "Sir Peter Fahy to stay on as GMP chief constable for three more years". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ "Greater Manchester Police chief faces shooting charges". BBC News. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- ^ Evans, Martin (16 January 2014). "Chief Constable faces health and safety charge over fatal shooting". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- ^ "CPS: Unable to reveal material for 'public interest' reasons". ITV News.
- ^ "Honorary role for Sir Peter Fahy at University of Manchester". BBC News. BBC. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ^ "Criminal justice should be part of 'Devo Manc' - Sir Peter Fahy". University of Manchester. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ^ Dodd, Vikram; Grierson, Jamie (28 March 2021). "Protest laws move UK towards paramilitary policing, says former chief". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 1.
- ^ Guardian, The (16 June 2012). "Queen's Birthday Honours List 2012: Knights". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Chief constable of Greater Manchester police to retire". TheGuardian.com. 9 July 2015.
- ^ "Honorary Graduates 2018". 18 March 2019.