Suzette Davenport

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Suzette Davenport
MBE QPM
Born
Suzette Louise Davenport

January 1963 (age 61)
NationalityBritish
OccupationPolice officer

Suzette Louise Davenport MBE QPM (born January 1963) is a retired British police officer who is the former chief constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary. She was appointed in 2013, becoming the first woman to serve in the role; prior to this, she had held various other policing roles. She retired in 2017, having served thirty years as a police officer.

Life and career[edit]

Suzette Louise Davenport was born in January 1963.[1] Though Davenport is from North Yorkshire, she started her policing career with West Mercia Police.[2] She went on to work in several police roles for different forces;[3][2] by 2002, she was working for Staffordshire Police.[4][5] She moved to work for the Home Office briefly in 2005; she then returned to Staffordshire Police, to the role of assistant chief constable.[2] At one point during her career with the Staffordshire force, she held the "crime and diversity" portfolio.[6] In 2007, Davenport moved to West Midlands Police, where she was responsible for "intelligence and neighbourhood policing".[3]

In 2011, while Davenport was deputy chief constable with Northamptonshire Police, the Independent Police Complaints Commission launched an enquiry into the conduct of four Staffordshire officers in 2002, including Davenport, in connection with the murder of amateur footballer, Kevin Nunes. Five people were convicted of the murder of Nunes in 2008; the convicted individuals lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal,[7] and their convictions were quashed in 2012.[8] The IPCC cleared the officers, including Davenport, of misconduct in 2016;[9] Davenport said she was "pleased and relieved" that the case into her had concluded.[4][10]

Prior to 2013, Davenport was the vice-president of the British Association for Women in Policing for eight years.[11] In addition, she was appointed as the national lead for roads policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2011,[12] a role she held until retirement.[2]

In 2013, she became the first female chief constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary.[13] As of 2016, Davenport sat on the board of the College of Policing.[14] While in the role, it was reported that she had ordered officers in her force to trim or cover beards, along with a ban on visible tattoos and inappropriate makeup,[15] with the BBC's Newsbeat reporting that beard nets would be permitted as an alternative.[16] Davenport retired in 2017, after thirty years as a police officer.[17]

Honours and recognition[edit]

Davenport was ranked at number 79 in The Independent on Sunday's 2014 Rainbow List of influential LGBT people, having come out as a lesbian at Pride in Gloucestershire earlier in that year.[18] She was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2016,[2] as well as an honorary doctorate by the University of Gloucestershire.[19][20]

Davenport was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to road safety as chair of the National Driver Offending Retraining Scheme.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Suzette Louise Davenport". Companies House. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Chief constable to retire in April". BBC News. 26 December 2017. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b "County's first woman police chief who smashed the glass ceiling". Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Gloucestershire Police chief constable Suzette Davenport cleared of misconduct following murder investigation probe". Gazette. Newsquest. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. ^ Golledge, Rob (4 October 2017). "Kevin Nunes investigation: Watchdog report finds senior officers 'failed in their duties' but none face action". Express & Star. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Suzette Davenport - College of Policing". College of Policing. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Police chiefs in misconduct probe over Kevin Nunes murder". BBC News. 23 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Kevin Nunes killing: Five cleared at appeal court". BBC News. 8 March 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Police cleared on Kevin Nunes gangland murder probe: Express & Star investigates". Express & Star. 11 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Kevin Nunes gangland murder: Inquiry into police officers 'right but costly', says cleared Staffordshire Police chief". Express & Star. 11 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Suzette Davenport is Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Police". BBC News. 9 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Suzette Davenport". National Road Safety Conference. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Gloucestershire's new police chief". ITV News. 9 January 2013. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours for College staff". College of Policing. June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  15. ^ McNeilly, Claire (4 August 2015). "Hairy police officers kick up a right fuzz". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 January 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Police aren't happy over proposed beard-nets". Newsbeat. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Chief Constable Suzette Davenport announces retirement". Gloucestershire Constabulary. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Rainbow List 2014, 1 to 101". The Independent on Sunday. 9 November 2014. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Honorary doctorate for chief constable". Gloucester Review. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Chief Constable receives Honorary Award". University of Gloucestershire. 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  21. ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N19.
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