Alan Hardwick

Alan Hardwick
Police and Crime Commissioner
for Lincolnshire Police
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 November 2012
Preceded by Office created
Personal details
Born 20 August 1949
Staveley, Derbyshire, England
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Julie Hardwick
Children Georgina, Emma, Clare
Profession Journalist
television presenter
voice actor
Television producer

Alan Hardwick (born 20 August 1949, Staveley, Derbyshire) is the current Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire Police and former journalist and television presenter.

Early life

He is the son of a Derbyshire coal miner, living on Chesterfield Road in Staveley. He attended Netherthorpe Grammar School in the town.

Broadcasting career

Newspapers

Alan Hardwick began his working life as an assistant in the men's clothing department of the Swallows department store (now gone) in Chesterfield. The news editor of the Derbyshire Times had his suits made in the store and another assistant, Vincent Cleary, arranged an interview for Alan at the newspaper. He became a junior reporter in 1965, One of the first stories he covered was the death of Horace Oakley, the Latin master at his old school and the man who first advised him to pursue journalism as a career.

Hardwick left Derbyshire to become a sub-editor with the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald in Swindon in 1969, then moved on to become a news editor for the now defunct Lincolnshire Chronicle. Later he became district editor of the Faversham News in Kent. After a short spell in the southeast he was a sub-editor and sports editor for the Scarborough Evening News.

Television

From 1973 to 2002 Hardwick was a senior journalist, presenter, producer and director at Yorkshire Television (YTV), presenting the Calendar South news bulletin. He had first encountered YTV when covering a story at Butlin's in Filey. The staff TV presenter, who was travelling by helicopter, was unable to land due to fog, so Alan stepped in. A Channel 4 documentary crew, filming the series Deadline, captured him saying some, what The Guardian‍ '​s media editor labels "fairly abusive", remarks about criminals.[1]

From 2002 to 2003 he presented his own daily news/current affairs programme on Radio Lincolnshire.

Since 2003 Hardwick has been a self-employed voice-over artist and PR consultant. He recently set up his own website, East Coast Television, intended to be a web-based television service specialising in general interest programmes.[2]

Police and Crime Commissioner

On 15 November 2012 Hardwick was elected the first Police and Crime Commissioner for the Lincolnshire Police area. Standing as an independent candidate, winning in the second ballot with a majority of 4,135.[3]

Controversy surrounded him in early 2013, when he suspended his acting Chief Constable, Neil Rhodes, without making the reasons for his actions public. The decision was reversed by a High Court judge on 28 March 2013, with the judge referring to the decision as 'perverse' and 'irrational'.

In further developments after the court decision, Hardwick continued to maintain that Rhodes would not return to his former role of acting Chief Constable. This view was challenged by Paul West, a former Chief Constable now advising the government on policing issues in his role as director of Policing For All. He pointed out that despite the passage of time, Hardwick had not appointed a new Chief Constable and that Neil Rhodes would automatically revert to being acting Chief Constable: "There is currently no chief constable in Lincolnshire, therefore he [Neil Rhodes] must act up to be acting Chief Constable. That is clear in the legislation. There is no provision in law for anything other than that to happen." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-21980708

Hardwick yielded to the widespread and mounting criticism of his actions, http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/POLL-Lincolnshire-Police-Crime-Commissioner-Alan/story-18555685-detail/story.html with calls for his resignation, and Rhodes was reinstated on 1 April as acting Chief Constable. The Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel have indicated that it will "hold Mr Hardwick to account if necessary". http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22002417

The Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel has now asked Alan Hardwick to apologise to Neil Rhodes for the handling of his suspension. He has been<Lincolnshire Echo 6 February 2014> asked to provide a written apology to both the Chief Constable and the crime panel for his conduct during the costly affair, which sparked an investigation costing the tax payer £160,000 and saw Mr Rhodes eventually reinstated to his previous role within the force.

Family

Alan Hardwick married Julie in 1978. They have two daughters, Emma and Georgina. Alan has an older daughter, Clare, from a previous marriage.

References

  1. ↑ Brooks, Richard (20 March 1995). "Focus on the newshounds". The Guardian. p. 14.
  2. ↑ East Coast Television website. Retrieved on 22 May 2008.
  3. ↑ http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/VIDEO-Lincolnshire-Police-Crime-Commissioner/story-17339713-detail/story.html

External links