Who's who

After graduating from Bristol University Martin joined Warwickshire Police in 1982, and served across all geographical areas in the force. His command positions included District Commander at Nuneaton, Head of Communications, Performance Review Manager and a short period as Head of CID. He served for two years in National Police Training as Head of Recruit Training Centre at Ryton-on-Dunsmore.

He achieved a Masters in Criminology at Cambridge University before being promoted to Assistant Chief Constable at Avon and Somerset Constabulary in 1998 where his key responsibilities were Personnel and Training, Criminal Justice and Communications. He was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in 2002, taking on responsibility for Professional Standards, Corporate Development, Communications and Information Services.

Martin was appointed Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police in September 2004. During his time in this post he oversaw 'Optimus' a 12 month programme of modernisation and reform within the force. He was also the Chief Officer lead on collaboration for all five forces within the South West region.

Martin was appointed Chief Constable of Sussex Police in October 2007 and was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in HM The Queen's Birthday Honours in 2008.

He is the Chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) South East Region, the regional lead for Serious and Organised Crime and represents ACPO on the Police Dependants' Trust. Martin is married to Judith and has two sons and two stepsons.

As Deputy Chief Constable (DCC), Giles York is responsible for the Corporate Development, Professional Standards and Corporate Communications Departments.  He engages closely with the Police Authority and has responsibility across the force for managing performance, risk, change and reputation.

In addition to deputising for the Chief Constable, Giles is the force lead for Diversity.  He also chairs the ACPO SE Region DCC's Board, is the national lead for the High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) and the ACPO Lead for Intelligence and Intellectual Property Crime.

DCC York started his service with Kent Police before being appointed as Assistant Chief Constable with South Wales Police; he was promoted to DCC in Sussex Police in 2008. Giles is committed to Serving Sussex and is Programme Director for Serving Sussex 2015, which looks at ways of improving processes to make Sussex Police even better at serving the public.

Assistant Chief Constable Robin Merrett joined Sussex Police in 2007 and is currently responsible for policing within Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex.  In addition, he is responsible for the Communications Department that deals with calls from members of the public.  His role involves leading on neighbourhood policing and volunteering, including the Special Constabulary and cadets.  As part of the Serving Sussex 2015 programme, ACC Merrett leads a range of projects that are transforming how local policing is delivered.  He is the Senior Responsible Officer for Operation Quest which enables business improvement.  

As part of ACC Merrett's national role he represents ACPO within the Official Side of the Police Negotiating Board and is the ACPO representative on the Transition Board for the National Policing Improvement Agency.  ACC Merrett represents the South East Region for the Special Constabulary and Volunteers. 

Prior to joining Sussex Police, ACC Merrett served for 24 years with the Metropolitan Police Service in a variety of uniform, detective and policy roles.  This included serving for 4 years as the Borough Commander for Bexley in South East London.

Olivia is a member of both the Surrey and Sussex Chief Officer teams and is responsible for collaboration of Major Crime, Firearms and Scientific Support, as well as leading for the two forces on the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit. She is also the Sussex lead on counter terrorism. In addition, Olivia is the national ACPO lead for migration and related matters.

She is from Devon and has an MA in mathematics from Cambridge University. She started her police career as a PC with Avon and Somerset, progressing to Detective Sergeant, Detective Chief Inspector, Head of Special Branch, BCU Superintendent and BCU Commander. She moved to Sussex in 2009 as ACC in charge of Protective Services and policing at Gatwick.

Marion Fanthorpe was appointed to Sussex Police as the Force's first Director of Human Resources in August 2008. As part of the Chief Officer team Marion focuses on the strategic direction of human resources issues for the Force, and is also the lead for the support services change programme.

Her HR responsibilities include pay and conditions, industrial relations, workforce planning and resourcing, health and wellbeing, employee engagement and learning and development. Marion also now has responsibility for shared business services for the Force. 

Marion graduated from the London School of Economics in 1980 with a BSc in Social Sciences and Administration and has had a varied public service career since then, initially as a qualified social worker, then specialising in human resources and organisational development. Marion is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Mark Baker was appointed to Sussex Police as Director of Finance in July 2009. His portfolio includes Finance, Procurement, and Facilities (property, vehicle fleet management and firearm licensing).

Mark has extensive experience of working in finance roles in local government since gaining qualification as member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance in 1995.

He trained with Hampshire County Council and has also worked for Epsom & Ewell Borough Council. Prior to joining Sussex Police, Mark was the Deputy Head of Finance at Surrey County Council where he led and contributed to a number of change programmes at Surrey County Council including IT systems implementation and service improvements for social care services and schools.