When Julie Spence failed to win promotion with the Avon & Somerset Constabulary, she didn't hesitate, writes andrew Ffrench.

Then working as an inspector with the force in the early 1990s, she felt she was unfairly denied the role of Chief Inspector.

And in order to tell her bosses how she felt about her treatment, she took out a grievance procedure against them.

The risky course of action didn't win her instant results - she wasn't promoted to Chief Inspector rank for another 15 months. But the show of strength didn't do her career any harm and she continued up the promotion ladder.

Her stand against her former employers is indicative of the firm but fair approach that she intends to show to all her staff.

"I was prepared to stand up for myself and afterwards the organisation changed some of its policies," she says.

Mrs Spence, 44, no longer has to contend with a supposed glass ceiling in the police force for women officers - there are now women chief constables at Lancashire, Wiltshire and Dorset.

And she makes no secret of her desire to reach the very top of the tree. "Yes, I do want to be Chief Constable," she says. "To do this, I will probably have to come out of this force and go back in again."

She adds that she wouldn't want to look back on her career and feel she had not fulfilled her true potential.

While she knows that the force provides a much more welcoming climate for women officers than it did 20 years ago, she acknowledges that there are still some "physical and psychological" barriers to women progressing through the ranks.

In order to take part in the selection process for Assistant Chief Constable rank, staff have to attend a six-month residential course. "That can be extremely hard if you are a woman and have children," Mrs Spence says. "We need to look at ways of achieving executive accessibility for women.

"On occasions, I have had to battle really hard."

The Assistant Chief Constable makes the point that if a woman achieves promotion in the force, they will be told it was because of their sex.

And if a woman fails to get promotion, the jibe will be: "It's because you're not good enough."

"We are trying to stop people jibing at each other," she adds.

On the thorny topic of sexism in the force, she says: "There has been tremendous improvement in terms of 'isms'. "We have ackowledged the problem and will do something about it. It is important that officers come forward when something goes wrong. I see myself as a champion for all officers, and a champion for fairness."

She would like to be leading an organisation that is "anti-bullying, anti-discriminatory and a safe working environment".

"I am a great advocate of what Richard Branson says: 'If you get the people issue right, the service will come'."

When asked whether former Merseyside Police high-flyer Alison Halford was a role model, she shakes her head, but adds: "She was the catalyst for quite a few of the women chief officers getting on the first rung of the ladder. "We owe her quite a lot because she has certainly heightened awareness."

The new ACC will be in charge of Thames Valley Police's corporate development, and her first major challenge will be policing the Millennium celebrations.

Part of her brief is developing internal communications and that means staying on top of all the latest computer technology.

The theory is that integrating databases will cut down on paperwork and bureaucracy, and this in turn will mean more officers out on patrol.

"We need to make officers feel at ease so they don't feel they have to come back into the station all the time." Now the police computer systems have been given the official all-clear from the Millennium Bug, Mrs Spence is confident that it will be 'business as usual' on New Year's Eve.

Earlier this year, all officers were told they could not book any leave during the holiday period, but now some support staff are being given the night off.

When she is not planning policing for Millennium Eve at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington, she enjoys walking and going to the theatre with her husband, John.

One of the productions she recently enjoyed was a performance of Joe Orton's black comedy Loot, which offers a satirical view of police work. She is also keen on "anything to do with wildlife."

Her visits to the capital to see a show could be the reason for her saying mysteriously and quite out of the blue: "This could be the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning."

Maybe it was a reference to the new Millennium.

Or perhaps a moment of self-doubt on her tough journey to the top.

Whatever the throw-away remark meant, the new Assistant Chief Constable, whose busy career has already spanned two decades, is determined to make sure that she - and her officers - have a bright future.

Story date: Wednesday 15 December

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