A top policeman retired on Friday after 30 years with the same force. Mark Tallentire meets ‘Durham man’ Michael Banks

HIS shiny glass door at Durham Police’s still-gleaming new £15 million headquarters building opened late last year, says “Clouseau”; but Deputy Chief Constable Michael Banks is a far cry from Peter Sellers’ legendary bumbling detective.

Having served his whole 30-year police career with Durham and been DCC since 2012, he is recognised as a calm and collected operator; a steady hand at the tiller during the tense moments that the police face every day.

“I think people see me as a Durham man,” the 51-year-old says, sitting back at the desk he vacated on Friday.

“I care about the service we provide and the people and communities we serve. The joy of policing is people.”

While not every person Mr Banks has encountered during his time in uniform will have been a joy, he seems to mean what he says.

As he retraces his career path, from starting out in Consett in July 1985 to being made DCC three years ago, he smiles and laughs as memories dawn.

“I love the variety of the work,” he says. “You can think you’ve got your day planned out and then it all changes. It keeps you interested and focused. No two days are the same.”

Mr Banks’ big thing is volunteering. He has a national role in leading “citizen policing”; which now involves 17,000 special constables, 10,000 police support volunteers and 6,500 police cadets. In Durham, the figures are 120, 135 and 30, respectively, plus a growing number of “mini police” youngsters and the best Neighbourhood Watch coverage in the country.

“When I started in 1985, we policed on our own. Now it’s done in partnership. We’re much better at community engagement and participation," he says.

But there is still much room for improvement. A recent survey, he says, found that three-quarters of people would be prepared to help the police with their work.

“Despite what you hear, the brand of policing is really good and people want to be part of it. We can provide a lifetime of volunteering in the police," he says.

So is he thinking of becoming a “special” on retirement, I ask, cheekily. He laughs. “I’ve thought about it.”

One thing the married father-of-two does want to is study. A committed Christian and churchwarden in the Durham area, he hopes to study a theology degree part-time at Durham University from later this year.

“There are a lot of parallels (between policing and Christianity) in terms of helping people who are in need. You can attach ‘love your neighbour’ to that as well. It’s about using your God-given talents to do good in the world.

“I want to do something different. I’ve had 30 years of doing policing and it’s been great. But increasingly I’ve been thinking about what the rest of my life holds.” he says.

From his start in Consett, the young Wallsend-born officer became a detective in Chester-le-Street, a sergeant in Seaham, worked the crime desk and became an inspector at Peterlee, had a spell in HQ on forward planning, was made a chief inspector at Easington and served as a commander for Darlington from 2001 and the force’s entire south area from 2003.

He became Temporary Assistant Chief Constable in 2005 and following attachments to Government Office North-East working on counter-terrorism and Durham County Council around community safety, was made ACC in 2010 – spending two years in the role before his final promotion.

He is proud of the service Durham Police provide to victims of crime – the force’s 89 per cent satisfaction rate is one of the best in the country.

He regrets having to help implement the first redundancy programme in the force’s 170-year history – from a peak of 1,760 officers about five years ago, the force has shrunk to 1,200, with 950 other staff.

Austerity has bitten, then. But, Mr Banks says, crime has been “kept down”, antisocial behaviour is down and the percentage of crimes solved has risen to 40 per cent.

The force was inspected 14 times last year and the outcome was overwhelmingly positive. It was the only one in the country to get two “outstanding” ratings from the Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (Peel) programme.

“The police have a mighty responsibility. If we get our job right, there’s a generation of people who can achieve their individual, family and community aspirations."

“If we don’t and it goes wrong, we can condemn people to very difficult circumstances in life, through crime and antisocial behaviour not being properly dealt with.”

But despite that gravity, Mr Banks remains, if not a laughing policeman, at least a cheery copper.

“Durham remains one of the safest places in the country,” he says, proudly. “Long may it continue.”

Durham Police’s new Deputy Chief Constable, Steve Watson, has taken up post