Two West Yorkshire Officers with a total of 60 years service to policing have been named in this year’s Birthday Honours list. Jawaid Akhtar Assistant Chief Constable (Specialist Crime) receives the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished police service, whilst John Parkinson Assistant Chief Constable (Corporate Services) is awarded an OBE.
Huddersfield based ACC Akhtar has worked in Huddersfield, Halifax Bradford and Wakefield during his 28 years service with West
Yorkshire Police. His varied career includes working as both a patrol and CID officer, as well as serving as Divisional Commander in both Halifax and Bradford. In 2007 he was responsible for the successful delivery of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Roads Policing Team, the first collaborative operational venture between the four Forces in the region
Currently, as holder of the Specialist Crime portfolio, Jawaid is the Chief Officer lead for Crime Division, the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team and the North East Counter Terrorism Unit.
In April 2010 he was Gold Commander for Operation Pinstripe, the high profile investigation into the murder of three women in Bradford. That same year he was invited to and graduated from the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Programme in the USA.
On hearing that he was to receive the QPM, ACC Akhtar said: “When I joined West Yorkshire Police 28 years ago I could never have envisaged receiving such a coveted honour. I am a proud leader in the Police Service and feel honoured and privileged to hold such a position. Throughout my career I have derived a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from serving the public and working in the company of dedicated and professional colleagues.
“On learning that I had been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal, I felt a surreal combination of surprise and delight. I very much look forward to attending the investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace and being accompanied by my family who have supported me throughout the years.
“I intend to continue to serve the public and the police service over the coming years with the same commitment, dedication and loyalty that I have done over the previous 28 years”
ACC John Parkinson, who receives the OBE, has been a police officer for over 30 years and spent his early career in Leeds, Huddersfield and Bradford. He has worked in many areas of policing including serving as a specialist firearms officer, community liaison and working on major crime investigations.
As a senior detective he created the Force’s first `cold case’ review team, Operation Recall, which successfully detected many serious crimes, often several years old. Following the London bombings in July 2005, he was appointed as Senior Investigating Officer in West Yorkshire to work with the Metropolitan Police, investigating those responsible for the bombings.
His role in this investigation continued through to him giving evidence at the Inquest in London which concluded in May this year.
John was involved in the National Counter Terrorism Review of capability and capacity of UK policing and was promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent at the start of 2006 to Head one of the new Counter Terrorism Units in the UK. He led on many areas of development and operational practises in the counter terrorism field.
ACC Parkinson said: I am absolutely delighted to receive this honour. I feel very proud and privileged to have served with an organisation committed to public service for over 30 years. My career has provided me with some fantastic opportunities and experiences and there have been many highlights. One particular example that is immensely rewarding is that Operation Recall continues to bring closure for many long suffering victims of crime and brings offenders to justice who thought they had got away with their crimes”.
“The latter part of my career has been especially challenging being involved in the counter terrorism field. I have worked with enormously dedicated and talented colleagues in many organisations across the country and internationally. The events of 7/7 reminded us all the scale and consequences of the threat faced from terrorism”.
“I will quietly celebrate with my family paying tribute to those I have worked with and who have supported me throughout my career”.
Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison said the honours awarded to Jawaid Akhtar and John Parkinson were: “a real tribute to their dedication to policing over the past thirty or more years”
Sir Norman said he was “proud and immensely pleased” that two West Yorkshire officers had been named in the Birthday Honours.
“These Honours”, he added, “reflects the national standing of West Yorkshire Police and the contribution made by its Chief Officers to the Service as a whole”.
ACC AKHTAR CAREER DETAILS:
Jawaid was born, and spent his early life, in Pakistan before emigrating and arriving in the UK in 1967. Having been schooled in Huddersfield he went on to University to study BSc (Hons) Aeronautical Engineering. He later attained a Postgraduate Diploma in Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge.
PROMOTIONS AND POSTINGS
Jawaid has been a Police Officer for 28 years. He has served in West Yorkshire Police for the whole of his career.
1982 – Joined West Yorkshire Police having been selected for the highly acclaimed Police Special Course and was posted to his hometown of Huddersfield as Police Constable.
1986 – Promotion to Patrol Sergeant, Huddersfield and Dewsbury
1988 – Detective Sergeant, Toller Lane CID
1989 – Promotion to Inspector, Halifax
1992 – Inspector, Research & Analysis Department, Headquarters
1995 – Promotion to Chief Inspector, Calder Valley
1997 – Promotion to Superintendent, Senior Investigating Officer, Discipline & Complaints Department
1998 – Promotion to Chief Superintendent, Divisional Commander, Halifax
2000 – Senior Investigating Officer of a Police Complaints Authority supervised external enquiry into the death of a football fan
2001 – Chief Superintendent, Head of Best Value and later Territorial Operations, Headquarters
2002-2003 – Selected and Graduated from the Strategic Command Course at the National Police Staff College, Bramshill
2004 – Chief Superintendent, Divisional Commander, Bradford South Division
2004 – Promotion to Assistant Chief Constable, Partnerships Portfolio
2006 – Assistant Chief Constable, Operations Support Portfolio
2008 – Assistant Chief Constable, Serious Crime Portfolio where his current corporate responsibilities include intelligence, counter terrorism, serious and organised crime, major crime and safeguarding.
In 2010 Jawaid was Gold Commander for Operation Pinstripe, the high profile investigation into the murder of three women in Bradford. That same year he was invited to and graduated from the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Programme in the USA.
Jawaid is married with two grown up children and still lives in Huddersfield.
He is fluent in the Punjabi and Urdu languages. As the holder of a Private Pilot’s Licence, his hobbies and interests include flying light aircraft in addition to leading and current affairs.
ACC JOHN PARKINSON CAREER DETAILS
John commenced his career with West Yorkshire Police in 1979 and subsequently worked geographically in all areas of the force. His early career was spent in Leeds, Huddersfield and Bradford and has served as a specialist firearms officer, in community liaison and has worked on major crime investigations. He was promoted Sergeant in 1988 and worked in drugs squad, vice, auto crime and CID in very busy inner city policing areas.
Promoted to Inspector in 1993, he worked in Operations and the Criminal Investigations Department. He was selected for and completed the Counter Revolutionary Warfare and Counter Insurgency Module at the British Military Command Course in 1996. During his time as Detective Inspector and subsequently Detective Chief Inspector he was involved in many investigations into serious and organised crime and homicide.
He was appointed Detective Superintendent in 2001 initially responsible for crime management in Calderdale and Bradford, but subsequently as a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) leading investigations into complex homicide, major crime, kidnap & extortion, undercover and specialist operations.
John created the West Yorkshire Cold Case team called Operation Recall which has brought closure to many long suffering victims of crime and brought many offenders to justice for serious crimes they thought they had got away with. He worked closely with forensic scientists, presenting at Interpol and the Department of Justice in the USA sharing the experience and practise of Operation Recall.
In 2004 he became accredited as an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Counter Terrorism SIO working with the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch and British Security Service (MI5).
Following the events of the London bombings on 7 July 2005, he was appointed as the SIO in West Yorkshire to work with the Metropolitan Police, investigating those responsible for the bombings. His role continued through to him giving evidence at the Inquest which concluded in May this year.
John was involved in the National Counter Terrorism Review of capability and capacity of UK policing and was promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent at the start of 2006 to Head one of the new Counter Terrorism Units in the UK. He led many areas of development and operational practises in counter terrorism.
He is a graduate of the International Leadership in Counter Terrorism Program and has worked closely with colleagues in the FBI, Australian Federal Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other organisations working in the counter terrorism field. He was appointed as President of the Leadership in Counter Terrorism Alumni Association in 2008.He was a consultant editor of the 2009 Blackstone’s Counter Terrorism Handbook.
He is a Companion of the Institute of Management Specialists and is a graduate of the ACPO 2008 Strategic Command Course. He was appointed to his current role as Assistant Chief Constable in April 2009. He is currently part way through a Masters’ Degree in Applied Criminology at Cambridge University.
John is married with a family and lives in West Yorkshire. He enjoys rugby union, although is now retired from playing and coaching and has taken up cycling as a pastime having recently completed a long distance charity ride to Brighton to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
