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Ian Hopkins QPM is a former senior British police officer. From October 2015 to December 2020, he was the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police.

Career

Hopkins joined Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in April 2008 on promotion to assistant chief constable. He started his career in Staffordshire Police in 1989 and has served in Northamptonshire Police and Cheshire Police. 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 stadium on 9 June, 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, 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 7 June 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 concert on 22 June. 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 on 21 November.

The officer made a £50 donation to the City In The Community scheme 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 at GMP.

Chief Constable

Ian Hopkins was promoted to chief constable of GMP in October 2015. Controversy soon followed his appointment. On 16 May 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:

Clearly we would always look to save money without job cuts, but the reality is 83% of our budget is people and after eight years of efficiencies across all parts of the organisation – which has seen us make reductions of £183m – there would be little alternative but to cut posts, both officers and staff. (...) This would just get worse as we would have to further prioritise against threat, harm and risk, screen out more and more crime. Essentially we would just have to focus on providing a response function, a serious and organised crime capability and a custody function as the core capabilities of policing.

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's career was brought to an end when he was forced to stand down in 2020. GMP had undergone a HMICFRS 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 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 for distinguished service in the 2016 Birthday Honours.

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 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.

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Queen's Police Medal (QPM)	2016 Birthday Honours.
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002 UK Version of this Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012 UK Version of this Medal
	Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal

References

1. ^ "Chief Constable Ian Hopkins". Greater Manchester Police. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
2. ^ Scheerhout, John (8 June 2013). "Top police officer is taken to task over failure to record perks". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
3. ^ "Date Name Gift / Hospitality Received From Description/Circumstances - PDF Free Download". travelsdocbox.com. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
4. Scheerhout, John (17 September 2015). "Ian Hopkins named new chief constable of Greater Manchester Police". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
5. "GMP Assistant Chief Constable escapes sack after 'baring breast at colleague'". ITV News. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
6. Keeling, Neal (18 August 2016). "Second senior GMP officer now facing investigation over boob bust-up". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
7. "Police chief's tirade about breasts ruled as gross misconduct". The Guardian. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
8. "Chief Superintendent of Operations and Neighbourhood Policing - Sarah Jackson". Cumbria Constabulary. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
9. Police chiefs warn of fewer officers after Treasury shrinks budgets further The Guardian
10. "Greater Manchester Police unveils 'citizen's contract'". BBC News. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
11. "Working together to create a safer future – GMP launches Citizens' Contract". www.rochdaleonline.co.uk. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
12. Williams, Jennifer (16 August 2021). "New GMP chief scraps predecessor's 'complete tosh' flagship policy". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
13. "The new GMP Chief Constable abandons his predecessor's flagship policy of "patronising, complete tosh."". Techno Trenz. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
14. "Greater Manchester Police chief scraps 'tosh' Citizens' Contract". BBC News. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
15. "Patel attacks Burnham as Greater Manchester's police chief resigns". The Guardian. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
16. "Greater Manchester Police 'failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year'". BBC News. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
17. "Greater Manchester Police chief to stand down immediately after force put in special measures". The Independent. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
18. Statham, Nick (17 March 2021). "Mayor Andy Burnham confirms he DID order GMP chief to resign". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
19. Scheerhout, John (10 August 2021). "Ex-GMP chief constable paid a year's salary for less than nine months' work". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
20. "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B35.
21. "Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood | Honours and Awards | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
22. "History of GMP 1974 – 2013". Greater Manchester Police. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
23. "Police chief died of exposure and drugs, coroner rules". The Guardian. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
24. Police, Greater Manchester (1 January 1991), Sir James Anderton, retrieved 27 August 2021
25. ^ "Police Professional | Former GMP chief dies". Retrieved 27 August 2021.
26. Statham, Nick (17 March 2021). "Mayor Andy Burnham confirms he DID order GMP chief to resign". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

• Living people
• Chief Constables of Greater Manchester Police
• Greater Manchester Police
• English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal