Thames Valley and Hampshire police share senior post
Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary have appointed a joint assistant chief constable for operations across both forces.
John Campbell will head up the new Joint Operations Unit (JOU), covering road policing, firearms operational support and the dog section.
The JOU covers Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
The shared post agreement was signed by both chief constables and police authority chief executives on Monday.
The JOU is based with Hampshire Constabulary and is led by Chief Superintendent Chris Shead and overseen by Assistant Chief Constable Campbell, who will continue to manage the Berkshire local policing area.
The position has been created for a trial period of nine months.
Assistant Chief Constable John Campbell served in Hampshire for 10 years as police commander in Portsmouth, head of operations and as a temporary assistant chief constable before joining Thames Valley Police in 2010.
The joint roads policing unit was the first element of the JOU to come into existence in January. Other parts of the unit will follow in the coming months, concluding with the joint firearms unit after the Olympics.
The formation of the collaborative unit was agreed by both police authorities in November 2010.