My Way: A Unique and Personal Insight into the Changes in Policing and Police Leadership Style over the Years

Kevin Moore joined Sussex Police at the age of twenty-one years in June 1978. His father was a serving officer with the Force at that time having joined in the 1950s. Sadly, his father died a few months after he himself had joined. This means that their joint careers span a total of over 60 years of policing. After joining the police, the author spent his two-year probationary period at Brighton during which time he operated as a beat officer and area car driver/observer. Whilst there, he experienced a wide variety of policing situations as one would expect in terms of the cosmopolitan nature of a City the size Brighton and Hove. Following this, he became a rural beat patrol officer at Camber near Rye in East Sussex. A short while later, he entered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), as a detective constable. This proved to be the beginning of a long and productive career as a detective during which time he climbed the ranks ultimately achieving the highest rank possible in the CID world of Detective Chief Superintendent when he was the Head of Sussex’s CID. During his service he was the senior detective in charge of the CID at Hastings and Eastbourne. He also worked within the Professional Standards Department investigation complaints made against police officers. He also served as the Chief Superintendent and Divisional Commander of Brighton and Hove during which time he was responsible for all police operations in the City as well as working with key partner agencies including the City’s Council. He took command of many large-scale public order demonstrations as well as other major public safety events. During his detective career, he was a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) with a responsibility for leading enquiries into homicide and other major crime investigations. He was viewed as being a highly competent senior detective. He was formerly a member if the International Homicide Investigators Association. Following his retirement as a police officer in 2009 after more than thirty-one years of service, he took up a position with the newly formed S.E. Regional Organised Crime Unit as a civilian or member of police staff. This involved the role as the Regional Intelligence Manager and then subsequently that of the S.E. Regional Prison Intelligence Manager. This Unit has an overall responsibility for investigating the criminal activities of those involved in the commission of the most serious types of crime. He fully retired from the police service in January of 2018. He has been married to Ann for over forty years and has two grown up children and five grandchildren. He holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Public Sector and Police Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Police Studies. He is interested in football and cricket and is a season ticket holder with Brighton and Hove Albion F.C. and also now spends his time with his and his wife’s Golden Retriever dogs and their four horses. Acknowledgements I wish to begin by thanking my publisher, Penny Reeves of the Saron Publishing Company, for her time, patience, sound professional advice and understanding in helping me to compile this book. This is especially the case taking into account that this is my first effort at putting together something of this nature. Whilst `My Way’ is about my policing career with a focus on the changes that have taken place over many years, clearly many of the influences on my career rely on many key individuals. This include those who I have worked with, those that have worked for me and those that have helped to develop me. Also, I wish to thank my many friends and colleagues for their unwavering support and friendship over the period of my long career. There are simply too many to list the names of here. However, you will all know who you are. Without you, what I have achieved over the years would not have been possible. Policing, perhaps more than any other profession in existence, relies on the men and women who serve within it for their dedication, team work, courage and public spiritedness. It has been my privilege to have worked with some of the very best in this regard. However, I do specifically wish to acknowledge the influence of a number of individuals on my professional development over the years. These include; Jack Reece, Graham Hill, Chris Page, Jeremy Paine, Brian Foster, Mike Bennison, Roger Hills, Sir Ken Jones and Joe Edwards. Some of you, without perhaps even appreciating the fact, have been my mentors. I wish to acknowledge the part played by my father, John Moore, sadly deceased, on giving me some of the tools and early advice that were to prove so valuable later on in my working life. His common-sense approach to policing will remain in my memory for ever. Lastly, but by no means least, I wish to acknowledge the contribution to my career and indeed my life by my wife Ann. Her support over the years has been incredible. Having been married very young and prior to me joining the police, she has experienced all the highs and lows and the pressures that a policing career brings with it. I owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude therefore. Dedication This account is dedicated to all those colleagues I have worked with over almost forty years in policing some of whom have become close friends in a way that only those who have worked within the police service can ever hope to understand. Especially, I wish to mention in this regard my best friend Robin Davies, sadly now deceased. Equally and arguably more importantly, it is also dedicated to my family and in particular my wonderful wife Ann, without whose unwavering support, my career in the police would not have been possible.