Denis O’Connor CBE, QPM
Denis O’Connor is Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Before he joined the Inspectorate, he was Chief Constable of Surrey between 2000 and 2004.
Denis began his career with the Metropolitan Police eventually becoming Assistant Chief Constable in Surrey in 1991. He was later appointed the role of Deputy Chief of Kent, and then in 1997 took on the position of Assistant Commissioner in London, where he led the Metropolitian Police Service development strategy following the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry.
In 1996, Denis was awarded the Queens Police Medal and later received a CBE in 2002 for his service to policing. Prior to becoming Vice President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in 2003, he chaired the ACPO Performance Management Business Area and led the piloting of the National Reassurance Policing Programme; the pre-cursor to Neighbourhood policing.
Over the years, Denis has reviewed the fitness of the current police force structure, which resulted in the publishing of the 2005 report ‘Closing the Gap’. Other reviews undertaken during his tenure include ‘Intercepting Terrorism’; a review published in October 2006 on police capabilities for counter terrorism and the October 2008 Serious and Organised Crime Capability, ‘Getting Organised’.
Other significant analysis, commentary and reviews overseen by Denis include the issues arising from the death of Baby P, a review of the Lessons to be Learned from Stockwell and more recently a review of the policing of public protests for G20.
Roger Baker QPM
Mr Baker was Chief Constable of Essex Police from July 2005 to July 2009. Before that, he was Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police for two years, with responsibility for performance, crime and operations, audit, review and inspection. From 2001 to 2003, Mr Baker was Assistant Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police, with responsibility for territorial policing, crime and operations.
Bernard Hogan-Howe QPM
Mr Hogan-Howe has been Chief Constable of Merseyside Police since September 2004. It was his second spell with Merseyside Police. From 1997 to 2001, he was Assistant Chief Constable, with responsibilities including community affairs and area operations. Mr Hogan-Howe moved back to Merseyside in 2004 after just over three years as Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, with responsibility for human resources.
Zoë Billingham
Ms Billingham has been director of community safety and sustainability at the Audit Commission since February 2004. Before this, she worked in the Cabinet Office for four years, initially as a development manager in the Regulatory Impact Unit, then a deputy director in the Office of Public Services.
Drusilla Sharpling CBE
Since 2002, Ms Sharpling was a Chief Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service in London. It was her second spell at the CPS, following 12 years of service from 1987. In that spell, Ms Sharpling worked in various roles, including head of casework services and crown prosecutor. From 1999 to 2002, she was an associate at Pennington’s, a City law firm.
