Sir Denis Francis O'ConnorCBEQPM (born 21 May 1949[1]) is the former Chief Inspector of Constabulary. He was appointed on 11 May 2009 and retired on 31 July 2012.
Career
Born in Drogheda, Ireland,[2] O'Connor's police career began in 1968 as a constable with the Metropolitan Police.[3] He left in 1970 to attend the University of Southampton, but rejoined the police as a graduate entrant in 1974.[2] In 1985 he was appointed as a Superintendent in Surrey Police and returned in 1988 as a Chief Superintendent to the Metropolitan Police Service. He rose to the rank of commander in the MPS. In 1991, he was appointed as an Assistant Chief Constable with Surrey Police[2] before transferring to Kent Police where he was appointed as Deputy Chief Constable between 1993 and 1997.[3] In 1997, he became a Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner and from 2000 until 2004 was appointed Chief Constable of Surrey Police.[4]
From 2004, he was one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary, and became Acting Chief Inspector on 1 December 2008. On 28 March 2012 the Home Secretary announced Sir Denis would retire on 31 July after more than three years in the role.[4][5]
O'Connor is trustee of the Surrey Care Trust in Woking Surrey, which provides education, training, skills and volunteering opportunities to those who need motivation or a second chance in life. The charity also runs a fund to help those facing hardship throughout Surrey.
Stop the Rot, published 24 September 2010, that examined the effects of anti-social behaviour and the withdrawal of police street patrols.[7][8] According to the Stop the Rot report, it confirmed the widely held belief by UK people, that the police had largely retreated from policing anti-social behaviour on the streets, by grading calls and not replying to incidents deemed to be below a specific grade of offence. The results was a rapid increase of yobbish behaviour in the last decade.[9]