DCC Hanstock has announced he is retiring after 37 years’ service. He is finishing at BTP after six years overseeing the operational and governance functions of Britain’s only national public police force.

During that time the force has had to tackle the rise of County Lines drug gangs using the rail network and counter-terrorism operations.

It follows the announcement that the force’s Chief Constable Paul Crowther is retiring after seven years at the top and 40 years in the Service.

The dual departures mean DCC Hanstock will be staying on into the New Year to support the induction of the new Chief Constable and the selection of the new DCC.

DCC Hanstock has served in three different police forces having begun his career as a criminal records clerk with Nottinghamshire Constabulary.

He became a police constable in 1985 just as the national miner’s strike ended and patrolled the beat in Sutton-in-Ashfield, a small mining town in north Nottinghamshire where he was first introduced to the challenges and rewards of community-based policing.

He transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service in the late 1990s where he led highly sensitive operations to combat gun crime and organised drug trafficking, as well as enquiries into serious sexual offences.

DCC Hanstock was promoted to leading policing in the Borough of Enfield in North London and attended the Strategic Command Course at Bramshill Police College befoere becoming a Commander in 2011.  He was a key figure during the 2012 London Olympic Games taking operational control each day ensuring international competitors, dignitaries and spectators could travel safety between Olympic venues and around London throughout the Games.

He has been the National Police Chiefs’ Council strategic lead for Stop and Search since 2013 and joined British Transport Police (BTP) as DCC in 2014.

He extended his retirement date to support work to police the COVID-19 lockdown.

DCC Hanstock said: “I have been privileged to serve with some extraordinary people in remarkable and challenging environments, working with the best of the best.

“Having already worked beyond my expected retirement date after agreeing to an extension last year, I believe that now is an appropriate time for me to step aside and make space for the next generation of talented and committed people who can bring their own style, ideas and approach to current operational and leadership challenges.”

He highlighted some of the major incidents he has been involved with during his time with the BTP.

“The last six years have presented me with some unique policing challenges, not least of which were the terrorist attacks in London and at Manchester Arena, the tragedy of the Croydon tram crash, addressing a range of ethical and governance challenges and most recently the extraordinary national step-up required to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“That said, after nearly four decades spent protecting the public and experiencing the unpredictable highs and lows of a lifetime in policing, I feel I’m at a point where I need to make just one more tough decision, and this is it.”

The Chartered Company Director is also a graduate of the FBI Executive Leadership Programme. He will continue his role as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Railway Dogs Benevolent Fund, that supports the wellbeing and care of ex-police dogs, which he helped found.

BTP’s Chief Constable Paul Crowther said he had been “very fortunate to have such an enthusiastic, open-minded and passionate” deputy during his term in office.

He added, “Adrian deserves enormous praise for the exceptional leadership and vision he has shown to BTP over the last six years – as a highly experienced operational commander, a leader of transformation, a frontrunner for professionalism and a champion for inclusion.  I am extremely grateful to Adrian for his dedication and true commitment to the Force, our workforce and for his public service.”