Woman named as assistant chief constable
A woman made it into the upper ranks of policing in Northern Ireland for the first time tonight when she was appointed as an Assistant Chief Constable.
Judith Gillespie, 41, was appointed by the Northern Ireland Policing Board to be one of only five members of the Police Service command structure to hold the rank.
She said she was “absolutely delighted”.
Mrs Gillespie has been a police officer for the past 22 years and an Acting ACC since last October.
Announcing the appointment, Policing Board chairman Professor Desmond Rea said: “We are delighted that Mrs Gillespie has accepted the appointment and will be substantively joining the senior officer team of the PSNI.”
Her appointment as the first female Assistant Chief Constable came after she was selected by a five-member Policing Board panel which interviewed three shortlisted candidates today.
Prof Rea added: “Assistant Chief Constables provide a key role in the delivery of the policing service here, and the experience Mrs Gillespie has obtained throughout her policing career and more recently as Acting ACC will be of benefit to her in the future.”
A strong senior officer team was now in place to continue to lead the PSNI forward and deliver “an effective policing service to the whole community in Northern Ireland”, he said.
Welcoming her appointment Mrs Gillespie said: “I am absolutely delighted with the appointment and look forward to working with the Board and the PSNI Command Team in facing the challenges ahead.”
Mrs Gillespie was a hot-shot from the start – leaving the old RUC training college in Enniskillen in 1982 with the Baton of Honour – the prize awarded to the top student.
She progressed through the ranks serving in a number of areas.
In 1997 she was promoted to Chief Inspector and appointed Co-ordinator of Child Abuse and Rape Enquiry.
Two years later she was promoted to Superintendent and head of the Drugs Squad. In 2002 she was appointed Chief Superintendent and given command of Ards District Command in Co Down.
The following year she became the first female officer from Northern Ireland to attend the Strategic Command Course at the police training college at Bramshill.
On successful completion of the course she was appointed Acting ACC heading up the newly-created Criminal Justice Department.
