A THIRD leading figure at Gloucestershire Constabulary has stood down from active duty.

Gary Thompson, who is Chief of Staff at the force, has been suspended pending an investigation into alleged gross misconduct which follows on from the suspension of Chief Constable Rod Hansen earlier this month.

Punchline-Gloucester.com understands Mr Thompson had been due to be issued with the suspension notice by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on October 7, which was the same day as a suspension measure being taken against Chief Constable Rod Hansen.

On October 9, it was reported that Chief Constable Rod Hansen was suspended pending in investigation by the IOPC for alleged gross misconduct in relation to another member of staff. The investigation centers on the handling, by both individuals, of an allegation of computer misuse and a potential data breach by another member of staff.

On the suspension of Mr Thompson, the IOPC said: "In respect of our investigation into the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary, we can confirm a gross misconduct notice has now also been served on a senior member of staff at the force. The investigation concerns the handling by both individuals of an allegation of computer misuse and a potential data breach by another member of staff, and whether relevant policies and procedures were subsequently followed.

As reported on October 10, Mr Hansen suspended his deputy, Shaun West in January this year, with the ruling on both pending the outcome of IOPC investigations. Mr West has subsequently retired from the force.

Probes do not mean any disciplinary action will follow, the IOPC has said, while it has also indicated that the cases of Mr Hansen and Mr West are not linked.

Previous to his role as Chief of Staff at Waterwells, Gary Thompson served as a police officer for 31 years, his final post being Assistant Chief Constable, where he held responsibility for more than 700 operational staff

He recently completed a Myers Briggs MBTI consultant course along with being trained as an Emotional Intelligence (EQi) consultant, while he also holds a masters degree in Multimedia Computing as well as NVQs in Customer Services and a PTTLS teaching qualification.

His policing career has seen him achieve operational roles which include being a qualified strategic (gold) commander for Public Order, Firearms Command, CBRN and Multi Agency Gold Incident Command, while he has chaired various Strategic Coordinating Groups including flooding, in 2012, and a major re-licensing exercise for the nuclear industry, in 2015.

In earlier work, he was an armed supervisor at the Royal Household Protection Group, a police search advisor and a Senior Investigating Officer leading five murder investigation rooms.

A recent update on the leadership status for the force from the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner said: "Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson has been getting on with the important job of securing an interim Chief Constable, Maggie Blyth."

● Ms Blyth took on the role at the top on Tuesday this week. Her tasks include keeping a steady ship at the Constabulary amid these independent investigations.