Deputy Chief Constable Ciaron Irvine

Born in Liverpool, Ciaron Irvine initially moved to the North-East to study at Durham University before joining the police service in 1994. His family has strong links with policing over many generations, with many of his close relatives serving as police officers or elsewhere in public service as health professionals.

He said: “I am proud to continue that family tradition and especially proud to be doing so in Durham with this role in the Constabulary”.

Ciaron has worked in mainly uniform and specialist operations/support roles, including time as Head of the force Control Room, Criminal Justice and a District Commander for Redcar and Cleveland.

As a Chief Superintendent in Cleveland, he set up the Force Tasking and Coordination Command, learning lessons from the Durham model at the time. In that role, he had responsibility for daily operational tasking, the management of intelligence and force performance.

More recently, Ciaron served as Temporary Assistant Chief Constable both in Cleveland and North Yorkshire, before his posting as Cleveland’s lead for Business Services, having completed the Strategic Command Course in 2018.

He is an accredited firearms, public order and multi-agency gold commander with experience of major public and sporting events at all levels, and is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for case progression and charging.

He added: “In all my leadership roles, I have always sought to ensure that we deliver the best possible service to our communities alongside taking a keen interest in the welfare and wellbeing of our staff”.

A keep-fit fanatic through regular football, gym and dog-walking, Ciaron is married to a primary school teacher and they have two adult sons.

Ciaron joined Durham Constabulary as Deputy Chief Constable in November 2021.