Paul Leighton QPM Deputy Chief Constable Police Service of Northern Ireland

Paul Leighton,QPM. LLB was appointed Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in March 2003. In this role he is responsible for internal discipline, progressing the new police college and working closely with the Chief Constable in providing overall direction to the service.

Prior to this he had been an Assistant Chief Constable in Northumbria, a posting he took up in 2000 and in which he had responsibility for problem solving policing, community safety partnerships, youth justice and e-policing.

1994 saw promotion to Superintendent, and almost immediately he had to deal with the aftermath of the Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre. From late 1994 to early 1996 Mr. Leighton was seconded to the South West of England region of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, where he assisted in the inspection of a number of English police forces.

Mr Leighton is a native of Coleraine, and he joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1980, after graduating from Queen’s University Belfast. Much of his service was spent in the city of Derry and, having grown up and served in the north west of the province, he has a particular affinity with that area. 1987 saw the beginning of a period in Headquarters and Special Branch, and it was during this time that he attended the FBI Academy (1993) and the Strategic Command Course (1998).

Married with three sons, Mr. Leighton’s hobbies include boating and cooking. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal in the Queens Birthday Honours 2005