Former town police chief retires

A FORMER Warrington police chief who went on to become Deputy Chief Constable of Cheshire, has retired.
Graeme Gerrard, who was chief superintendent in charge of the Warrington division for some years, spent his entire career with the Cheshire force, also serving in Widnes, Chester, Runcorn and Northwich.
He describes policing as “the most varied job in the world”.
During his 38 years with Cheshire Police he worked in all parts of the county, but his only “moves away” were a period in charge of training at the former Cheshire Police recruitment assessment centre in Aberdovey; two years seconded to the staff of the Police Staff College at Bramshill, in Hampshire and three months on an FBI course in Virginia, USA.
He said: “You never know what’s going to happen next; you don’t know if it’s going to be OK. Sometimes that can be quite scary and it doesn’t suit everyone, but it has been the best job in the world for me.”
Mr Gerrard joined Cheshire Police as a cadet in 1973. He became a Constable two years later.
His decision to stay with one force is increasingly unusual among career police officers but he is “quite happy” with it.
He said: “When I joined as a cadet, if someone had said ‘Would you be happy retiring as Deputy Chief Constable?’ – I would have taken that. Easily.”
Picture: Graeme Gerrard (left) receives a “scrapbook” of his career with Cheshire Police from the Chief Constable, Dave Whatton.