Merseyside Police’s departing chief constable spoke to the ECHO ahead of her retirement from the police force
Outgoing chief constable of Merseyside Police Serena Kennedy pictured at her office in Merseyside Police HQ(Image: Iain Watts)
Merseyside Police’s departing chief constable said misogyny against senior female public figures is getting worse after she “received thousands of vile abusive messages” last summer. Merseyside’s top police officer Serena Kennedy claimed she was subject to the “very personal abuse” calling for her to be sacked after the force came under the public spotlight over its handling of information disclosure in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
In an interview with the ECHO ahead of her final day in the top position, today, Friday, August 29, she also said being the first female chief constable on Merseyside had been a “huge privilege” and the “hugely inspirational, brave and courageous” families who had experienced unimaginable loss were why she did the job.
Chief constable Kennedy started her career at Greater Manchester Police in 1993, before moving on promotion to Cheshire Constabulary in 2014 as chief superintendent. She moved to Merseyside Police three years later as assistant chief constable and was promoted to deputy chief constable in 2018. She assumed the top role in April 2021.
During her four-and-a-half year tenure, chief constable Kennedy has led the force through some of its darkest days, including the stabbing of schoolgirl Ava White; the Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing; the gun deaths of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt Korbel, Ashley Dale, Elle Edwards and Sam Rimmer; the Southport mass stabbing and the LFC title parade crash.
Speaking to the ECHO from her top floor office at the force’s HQ in Everton, she said: “It’s been an incredibly challenging, demanding time, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time. It’s odd to say that I’ve loved every minute of it, when we’ve dealt with some of the most horrendous of incidents and people’s families have been destroyed by things that have happened to them.
Outgoing chief constable of Merseyside Police Serena Kennedy pictured at her office in Merseyside Police HQ(Image: Iain Watts)
“But it’s been an honour and privilege to lead the organisation and the communities through some of the darkest days that Merseyside Police have ever faced. You absolutely feel the responsibility to make sure that you’re doing the very best for those families.
“You’re doing the very best for the communities, the very best to bring those offenders to justice…to protect, support and reassure those communities, but also that real responsibility to provide that visible leadership to the organisation and to get things right, to be seen as that person who knows what they’re doing. That’s real responsibility.”
The greatest test of the force during chief constable’s tenure came when then 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana stabbed three girls to death at a Taylor Swift dance party in Southport and injured significantly more. The force took what many saw as an unprecedented decision to release the murderer’s place of birth.
Merseyside chief constable Serena Kennedy pictured at a press conference about Axel Rudakubana’s sentencing(Image: Colin Lane)
However, the force faced criticism in the following days – predominantly from members of the right-wing press and political figures – regarding its decision to not put out more information.
Chief constable Kennedy said: “I wasn’t going to do anything that compromised the opportunity to bring the offender to justice. So whilst I wanted to issue the religion of Rudakubana, the advice was that I couldn’t do that.”
New interim guidance issued by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College has advised forces to disclose suspects’ ethnicity and nationality to the public amid growing pressures to enhance transparency. Chief constable Kennedy said she welcomed the guidance and said it would give “clarity in certain sets of circumstances”.
She told the ECHO: “I think that’s really important for our communities to build that trust and confidence so they can see that we’re being open, honest and transparent.”
Merseyside chief constable Serena Kennedy lays flowers at Southport stabbing scene(Image: Colin Lane)
Following the LFC parade crash in May this year, the force issued information about the suspect Paul Doyle’s ethnicity and nationality. Chief constable Kennedy said: “I was absolutely involved in that decision. I think it’s really important that we look at the two different situations.
“In summer 2024 it was a 17-year-old juvenile that was in custody…there was clearly information about Rudakubana that was not known at the time. If we look at Water Street, the image of the person allegedly responsible for that incident was all over social media very quickly.
“It was really obvious that this was a white person and he was arrested very quickly. There was no need for a consultation with our colleagues in the criminal justice system. I think it would have damaged the trust and confidence in Merseyside and indeed nationally if we had not confirmed that he was a white British male, locally born.”
And asked if there is the potential the release of certain information could stoke fires, the Kings Police Medal recipient said: “If the criteria is met, then policing has to be open, honest and transparent with our communities and we have to prepare for the impact of releasing that information, whatever that may be…we have to follow that guidance and we have to prepare if we think there might be a negative impact as a result of that.”
DCS Mark Kameen and chief constable Serena Kennedy following the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
The magnitude of Merseyside Police’s recent investigations and the prominence they have had on national headlines has brought the outgoing chief constable under both scrutiny and abuse. She said: “The abuse I got last summer was absolutely horrific…vile comments questioning my ability, calling for me to be sacked.
“And my colleagues across the country, both male and female, are subject to that abuse online when they are dealing with a high profile incident. However, senior female police officers are subject to very personal abuse as well, in terms of their appearance, their sexuality, how they identify, their gender, and that is something our male colleagues don’t experience in the same way and with the same ferocity and vileness.”
Chief constable Kennedy added: “I absolutely think that misogyny being shown to senior public females is getting worse.”
In the 40-minute interview, the mum and nan also addressed accusations of “two-tier policing and two-tier justice”. She said: “It’s absolute rubbish. We are absolutely clear and robust around if people break the law, we will take action.
Chief constable Serena Kennedy’s first ECHO pictures after securing the top job(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“When protests become unlawful or there is serious disruption to our communities, then we take action. If I go back to Southport, what we saw was not protest…they were intent on criminality and violence.”
But while she has inevitably come under fire, the chief constable has also found inspiration from the communities around her, none more so than the many families of victims she has met.
She said: “They are completely inspirational. I met them when they were in their deepest, earliest hours of grief. They stand for what the communities of Merseyside stand for. They are absolutely community champions and brilliant in my view.”
Chief constable Kennedy said the pride of those who work for Merseyside Police was one of her driving forces during her tenure. She said: “Scousers are really proud people and that bleeds into the organisation, which is brilliant. Despite the challenges Merseyside Police has faced over the past four and a half years, every member of the organisation has stepped up, no matter their role within the organisation.
Outgoing chief constable Serena Kennedy said she is looking forward to “more time with friends and family”(Image: Iain Watts)
“I am so proud of each and every one of them. A huge thank you to the communities as well, because it’s felt through all of those critical incidents that they’ve stood side-by-side alongside Merseyside Police.”
And in terms of retirement, the departing officer said “it’s not retirement, it’s just the next stage of my life”. She said she plans to continue her charity work and her position as a prevention advocate.
But first, and perhaps most importantly, “definitely more time with friends and family, being a better wife, mum, nana and friend.”