Second police chief resigns after PCC elections Simon Ash, the chief constable of Suffolk who has more than 30 years of experience in policing, added it was an "appropriate time to hand over." It comes after controversial chief constable Colin Port became the first casualty of the new police and crime commissioners (PCCs) as he refused to reapply for his own job. His contract could have been extended, but police and crime commissioner Sue Mountstevens said she wanted to run a competitive process to find a chief constable who could serve for the whole of her four years in office. It also emerged last week that Jim Barker-McCardle, the chief constable of Essex, told all candidates for the PCC post that he intended to stand down after the election. Mr Ash, 52, who will join the Parole Board as an independent member from February, said: "With the election behind us, it now seems an appropriate time to hand over to a new chief constable, who can take the constabulary forward with the new police and crime commissioner, Tim Pashmore." Mr Passmore said: "It is not by accident that Suffolk is one of the safest counties. Simon has led Suffolk Constabulary through some testing financial times and I applaud him for his commitment to the constabulary.