Richard Brunstrom

Richard Brunstrom (born September 1954, Nottingham) is a retired British senior police officer. He was the Chief Constable of North Wales Police, a position he held from January 2001 to July 2009.

Biography

Early life

Brunstrom's father was a geologist of Swedish descent.^[1] He grew up in Surrey. Brunstrom graduated in Zoology from Bangor University. He got two years into a Zoology PhD but joined the police.

Career

He joined Sussex Police.^[2] After 11 years, in 1990 he moved to Greater Manchester Police as a Superintendent serving initially in Old Trafford, regularly commanded the policing of Manchester United and Manchester City home football games. He then became a Divisional Commander at Bury. Brunstrom was appointed Assistant Chief Constable in the Cleveland Police in September 1995, subsequently promoted to Deputy Chief Constable.^[3]

North Wales Police

Brunstrom joined North Wales Police as Deputy Chief Constable in January 2000, and was appointed Chief Constable of the Force in January 2001. Throughout his tenure, Brunstrom has courted controversy with his campaign against speeding drivers, and his support for speed cameras has drawn criticism from motorist groups. His vociferous action against speeding and other traffic crimes has led to his being nicknamed the "Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban", and to accusations of being "obsessed" with speeding at the expense of catching other criminals,^[4] and led The Sun newspaper to catch Brunstrom's daughter exceeding the speed limit by 19 miles per hour in the family car.^[5] Brunstrom claims his policy was responsible for a reduction in traffic injuries.^[6] His views on traffic law enforcement caused him to be a consistent subject of ridicule on the BBC Two program Top Gear.^[7]

Brunstrom has called for the decriminalisation of all drugs – including heroin and cocaine – and has urged the Government to declare an end to the "failed" war on illegal narcotics.^[8]

Brunstrom has been praised for his action against anti-social behaviour and his learning and promotion of the Welsh language, and being the first Chief Constable to have his own blog. Previously he was ACPO's head of road policing policy, head of the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, and police co-ordinator on drugs policy across Wales.^[3]

In September 2007, as a demonstration of support for Tasers being trialled in rural areas of North Wales, Brunstrom volunteered to be tasered by his fellow officers. Video footage of the event was posted on the force's website; Brunstrom was tasered for 1.5 seconds, and swore as he lost control of his body. Afterwards he described the event as "Not pleasant" and warned "I very strongly advise you, if faced by an officer and a Taser, that you follow the instructions of the nice police officer, because you will not enjoy the consequences of disobedience.".^[9]

During refurbishment work at North Wales Police headquarters in December 2007 Brunstrom staged a break-in, scaling scaffolding attached to the building and climbing through a window. It was initially claimed that this was a stunt to expose lax security.,^[10] but a Freedom of Information request subsequently revealed that this was a fabrication; the real reason for the 'break-in' was that Brunstrom's entry fob no longer worked.^[11]

On Tuesday 10 February 2009, Brunstrom appeared as a co-presenter on the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2.

Welsh language

Brunstrom has been praised for his learning and promotion of the Welsh language, in which he holds an A level. This has led to his being created an honorary Druid by the Gorsedd of Bards list at the 2006 National Eisteddfod,^[12] and in April 2007 he made a speech to Welsh communities pressure group Cymuned in which he urged politicians to update the 1993 Welsh Language Act, saying he was doing his duty by raising it.^[13]

Mark Gibney

Mark Gibney was a 40-year-old motorcyclist, who was killed in 2003 through decapitation when his bike crashed on a bend on the B5105 between Cerrigydrudion and Ruthin in Denbighshire. In a private presentation to reporters in May 2007 to launch a new approach to speeding via courses and training versus points and fines, Brunstrom used a series of photographs of dead motorists including, without consent, a photograph of Gibney's decapitated body.^[14] Brunstrom had the photographs of Gibney, which he described as "outstandingly good", inserted after an earlier draft of the presentation was not "gruesome" enough.^[15] Although both Brunstrom and the North Wales Police Authority apologised without reservation to the family, Brunstrom was investigated by the IPCC at the request of the Police Authority, and was given a warning "for failing to warn the family that the images would be used."^[15] and for expecting to be able to show the images to reporters without their being reported.^[16] Albert Owen, the Labour MP for Anglesey called for Brunstrom to resign as he was "out of control", letting an "overarching zeal to persecute motorcyclists" overcome common sense,^[17] and that the controversy surrounding him overshadows the work of the police.^[18] When later interviewed about the choice of photograph, Brunstrom apologised to Gibney's family and admitted making a mistake he regretted, but admitted that he would if given the choice use the photograph again but would have approached the family first.^[19]

CCTV

On Monday 23 April 2007 Richard Brunstrom published an entry in his blog containing the location of Denbighshire County Council's replacement CCTV Control Room.^[20] In other blog entries, Brunstrom has been very supportive of the use of CCTV in general as a tool in the fight against petty crime and environmental crime, such as dogs defecating in public places.^[21]

Retirement

In August 2008, it was announced that he would be retiring by Christmas 2009. In May 2009, it was announced that he would be retiring in July 2009.^[22]

Personal life

He is married and has a son (born August 1987) and daughter (born November 1984).

References

External links

• Bio of Brunstrom at North Wales Police
• Richard Brunstrom's blog at North Wales Police

News items

• Announcing his retirement in August 2008
• Jasper Gerard Interview: The Times October 2005