Campaigning top cop set for retirement in Italy

Feb 15 2009 by Phil Doherty, Sunday Sun

“If an officer is called to a job in an area they don’t know well the computer will direct them there. It will flag up if someone has a record of violence, alerting them to potential danger.”

He is also busy over-seeing the construction of two multi-million pound police stations at Wallsend, North Tyneside, and Forth Banks, Newcastle, and the introduction of an innovative scheme that will seek the opinions of the rank-and-file officers on improvements.

He is proud of the introduction of a neighbourhood policing force.

Yet in a year’s time he will put the stresses and highs of the job he loves behind him when he retires.

He said: “I’m going to live in Italy for part of the year. In the past I’ve been too busy to do much travelling and I’ve got a map at home with green pins in the countries I have already visited, and red pins in the places I want to go to.

“I plan to spend my time changing the red pins into green ones.

“I’m hoping to become tri-lingual as I have always been frustrated by my inability to converse in an intelligent way with people abroad. I speak limited French and Italian.

“I can read Italian children’s books and newspapers, and swear, but that is not the same as conversing fluently and with ease.

“One of the reasons I want to live in Italy is because I’m fascinated with the Etruscan people who ruled the country before the Romans.

“But I won’t give up my home in Northumberland as I love the area.

“My wife Sharon and I grew up in Newcastle and the only holidays our families could afford were in caravans in Northumberland. We have happy memories of them.”