Police Chief Supt
It was all change for Mick Gipp when British Rail started modernising signal boxes. The former signalman’s inspector decided his heart no longer lay in the railways. He got his career back on track by following his true calling – policing.
Almost three decades on, the Cambridgeshire Constabulary chief superintendent hasn’t looked back.
Over the years Mick’s been involved in numerous high-profile cases, including animal rights terrorist threats to Huntingdon Life Sciences and racial disorder in Peterborough. He was the logistics commander during the investigation into the Soham murders.
He’s been tirelessly working to modernise the police force and make it more customer service-driven.
A passionate ambassador for Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Mick says there’s nothing any force can offer that his can’t.
“It’s the most fantastic career anybody could join. You never get bored, you never get into a comfort zone that you’re stuck in because you’ve always got new challenges.”
All change
In his youth, Mick volunteered as a special constable at his hometown of Ely. But it was only when his former job at British Rail underwent sweeping changes that he decided to make his hobby his career.
Mick says: “I liked the challenges and the fun that the police would offer as opposed to sitting in an office with no windows at Cambridge Railway Station. I wanted something that was more challenging, more demanding, had some excitement to it but was also giving something back so you felt some achievement at the end of the day.”
A varied beginning
He joined the Constabulary in March 1980, starting off in Peterborough, undertaking patrol duties and going on to deal with “vice” issues, such as prostitution and soliciting, criminal damage and malicious phone calls.
After a four-year stint at traffic policing, Mick was promoted to sergeant in 1988 and transferred to Huntingdon Police Station. Between 1989 and 1991, he tutored new recruits, before returning to Peterborough as a patrol and custody sergeant. He spent nine months running a team of experienced officers investigating volume crime, responsible for recovering stolen property.
Mick says: “I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very challenging. Peterborough’s a very busy area.”
Rural policing
In 1992, Mick undertook the role of acting inspector, covering the mostly rural Fenland area, based in March. The area’s geography means police can travel large distances to respond to calls.
Mick says: “It was a totally different type of policing. In Peterborough you could be anywhere in minutes. Working out of March or Wisbech, it’s not as easy. The volume of incidents in the Fens is substantially lower but per officer it’s not that different. In Peterborough if you get into bother there’s more officers close by. In Fenland back-up is further away.”
Often the best tactic was to diffuse the situation before it escalated.
The rave season
One of Mick’s highlights during his time in Fenland was policing raves. The most memorable was a large, licensed rave in Wisbech in 1993. His team was responsible for planning and executing a police operation on the night, funded by the event organisers.
Mick says: “We recovered enough drugs to fill two full-sized dining tables. We proved it was no more than a drugs party.”
In a strange sense of deja-vu, police raided two further raves between 2005 and 2006 in Chippenham and Chatteris, seizing a large stash of illicit drugs.
“The problem hasn’t gone away,” Mick says.
Operational roles
In 1996 Mick took over as operational inspector of traffic operations, supervising investigations into fatal and serious crashes throughout Cambridgeshire, with officers working from Peterborough, Huntingdon, March and Bottisham.
In November 1998 he was promoted to chief inspector of the force control room at Police Headquarters in Hinchingbrooke. Largely responsible for handling police resources, Mick found the role challenging and interesting, as the department handles all force incidents.
Less than a year later, in August 1999, he became the Operations acting superintendent, dealing with traffic, firearms, dogs and air support units. He was also in charge of contingency planning and public order issues.
Terror threats
As the Twentieth Century drew to a close, Mick helped to co-ordinate police intelligence surrounding a “likely attack” on Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratories. There was evidence to suggest animal rights activists would target the site at the start of the new Millennium. The attack didn’t eventuate but police were well prepared in case animal rights extremists struck.
Mick says: “These are acts that could only be described as acts of terrorism”.
His team policed regular demonstrations throughout Cambridgeshire and were responsible for advising other forces throughout England and Wales on how to handle similar protests.
Customer service
In 2001 Mick became temporary superintendent at the Department of Criminal Justice in Peterborough with the aim of improving local justice to make it “faster, slicker and more efficient”.
Mick’s mission to improve customer services continued when he was made superintendent in 2003. He was responsible for managing the force control room at Hinchingbrooke and customer service centre at Thorpe Wood Police Station.
Mick says: “It’s now one of the best performing centres in the region.”
The former signalman’s inspector, working as a police chief superintendent since January 2006, has high hopes for the future.
“My plan is to modernise the division, achieve a high level of citizen focus, a reduction in crime and improve detection rates.”
The Soham murders
The investigation into the Soham murders in 2002 was the Constabulary’s largest to date.
The Cambridgeshire town became the centre of international scrutiny, following the disappearance of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman on August 4 that year. Their bodies were found in nearby Suffolk 13 days later.
School caretaker Ian Huntley was found guilty of murdering the two girls, following a trial in 2003, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court later imposed a 40-year minimum fixed sentence.
Throughout the criminal investigation, Mick worked as the police logistics commander, ensuring that “whatever was needed was provided”. Later he managed the policing of Holly and Jessica’s memorial service at Ely Cathedral and their funeral.
He was also responsible for ensuring Huntley and fellow suspect, ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr, were able to get to court safely. Carr was later convicted of perverting the course of justice, after providing a false alibi to police, but was cleared of actual involvement in the murders.
Mick says it was important to get Huntley and Carr into court quickly and efficiently so that justice could prevail.
“It was extremely difficult because we had the world’s media camped on our doorstep. Whatever we did had to fit with what the families wanted and with what the chief investigating officers needed.”
Ethnic clashes
In 2003 Mick headed the police response to a series of clashes between ethnic minority groups in Peterborough. During heated confrontations between rival groups, cars were torched and windows smashed.
Mick says: “Two houses were attacked with petrol bombs and there were a number of serious public order incidents. It was a bit of a wake-up call – we’d never experienced that before. Working with the community and our many partners and some excellent officers at Peterborough City Council, we did a lot of work to overcome the problems.”
Passionate about policing
Despite the more traumatic aspects of policing – including dealing with or attending 300 fatal crashes throughout his career – Mick is passionate about what he does.
He particularly enjoys operational delivery and says citizens should always be at the forefront of any initiative.
“Whatever we do has to deliver a service to the public and the community. If it doesn’t, we’ve forgotten our purpose.”