(1)The office of deputy chief constable is hereby abolished.
(2)In section 6 of the [1964 c. 48.] Police Act 1964—
(a)in subsection (1), after the word " a " there shall be inserted the words " person holding the rank of " ; and
(b)in subsection (4), for the words from the beginning to " of ", in the second place where it occurs, there shall be substituted the words " Appointments or promotions to the rank of deputy chief constable or " .
(3)The following section shall be inserted after that section—
(1)Any police force maintained under section 1 of this Act may include more than one person holding the rank of deputy chief constable, but only if the additional person or persons holding that rank—
(a)was a deputy chief constable before a period—
(i)of central service; or
(ii)of overseas service, as defined in section 3 of the [1945 c. 17.] Police (Overseas Service) Act 1945 ; or
(iii)of service in pursuance of an appointment under section 10 of the [1980 c. 63.] Overseas Development and Co-operation Act 1980 as an officer to whom that section applied; or
(b)became a deputy chief constable by virtue of section 58(2) of this Act.
(2)If there is more than one person who holds the rank of deputy chief constable in a police force maintained under section 1 of this Act, one of the persons who hold it shall be designated as the officer having the powers and duties conferred on a deputy chief constable by section 6(1) of this Act.
(3)A person shall be designated under subsection (2) of this section by the police authority after consultation with the chief constable and subject to the approval of the Secretary of State.”.
(4)In section 5 of the [1967 c. 77.] Police (Scotland) Act 1967—
(a)in subsection (1), after the word " a" there shall be inserted the words " person holding the rank of " ;
(b)subsection (3) shall be omitted ; and
(c)in subsection (5), for the words from the beginning to " of ", in the second place where it occurs, mere shall be substituted the words " Appointments or promotions to the rank of deputy chief constable or " .
(5)The following section shall be inserted after that section—
(1)Any police force may include more than one person holding the rank of deputy chief constable, but only if the additional person or persons holding that rank—
(a)was a deputy chief constable before a period—
(i)of central service; or
(ii)of overseas service, as defined in section 3 of the Police (Overseas Service) Act 1945; or
(iii)of service in pursuance of an appointment under section 10 of the Overseas Development and Co-operation Act 1980 as an officer to whom that section applied; or
(b)became a deputy chief constable by virtue of section 23(2) of this Act.
(2)If there is more than one person in a police force who holds the rank of deputy chief constable, one of the persons who hold it shall be designated as the officer having the powers and duties conferred on a deputy chief constable by section 5(1) of this Act.
(3)A person shall be designated under subsection (2) of this section by the police authority after consultation with the chief constable and subject to the approval of the Secretary of State.”.
(6)In section 58(2) of the [1964 c. 48.] Police Act 1964 and section 23(2) of the [1967 c. 77.] Police (Scotland) Act 1967 (under both of which a chief constable affected by an amalgamation holds the rank of assistant chief constable) for the word " assistant" there shall be substituted the word " deputy " .