“Some cases leave an indelible mark you can never really shake off"

Friday 31 May 2019

A Detective Superintendent has opened up about what it takes to become one of the island's highest ranking Police Officers, and the cases he'll never forget.

Starting out as a fresh-faced cadet at the tender age of 16, Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull QPM has worked his way up over his 40-year career to become one of the most senior members of the States of Jersey Police.

As the son of a Police Officer, D/Supt. Gull always knew that he wanted to follow in these footsteps. In 1979, at the age of 16, he joined the Police cadets fresh out of school. This September, he will celebrate 40 years in the job.

Fighting serious organised crime has unpredictability written into the job description, but - as Express found out - despite all that, he looks forward to clocking in every single day...

Now Head of Crime Services at the States of Jersey Police, his remit includes CID, dealing with all major and serious organised crime, including rape and crimes of violence; drug trafficking and money laundering; intelligence; as well as hi-tech and cybercrime.

Pictured: Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull has worked his way up from a Police cadet to one of the island's most senior officers.

He is Vice-Chairman of the Safeguarding Partnership Board, working on child and vulnerable adult abuse and domestic abuse, and he chairs Jersey Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (JMAPPA), which manages sex and violent offenders within the community. Currently there are 147 registered sex offenders, with 85 living in the community.

“In this area, our work is increasingly with partners,” he said. “We recognise that no one agency ever has the complete picture, in particular with family units where abuse may be suspected.”

His is a very diverse role, with full, demanding, often 11-hour days.

“No one day is the same as the next,” he says. “I think that’s why I and a lot of people who work in this service enjoy what we do. And whilst I have a pretty full diary, you can’t account for the unexpected. We work hard at reducing and preventing crime, and minimising risk, threat and harm, but you can never eliminate that. It’s the nature of the human race.” 

The unexpected happened shortly after he moved to Jersey. On 14 August 2011, in about a 15-minute period, Damian Rzeszowski killed his wife Izabela, children Kinga (5) and Kacper (2), father-in-law Marek Garstka, family friend Marta de la Haye (34) and her daughter Julia (5). 

It was a Sunday afternoon, four weeks to the day that D/Supt. Gull had started his new job. He was appointed Senior Investigating Officer to a case which was unprecedented in the island and shocked the whole community: “That’s not what I was expecting when I came to Jersey,” he said.

Pictured: One month into his new position in Jersey, D/Supt. Gull was appointed the Officer in charge of one of the most serious cases the island has ever seen - that of Damian Rzeszowski's killing spree.

“Before I came here, I dealt with a serious case in Suffolk involving the abduction and murder of five prostitutes. They were all recovered in a ten-day period. I didn't think it could get worse than that, and I came here and ended up dealing with six homicides on the same afternoon. 

“Cases of that nature leave an indelible mark and you can never really shake them off.” 

He recalled the words of a senior colleague when he had to deal with his first homicide investigation, a homophobic murder in 1994. “He told me: ‘cases of this nature, they never leave you, they stay with you throughout your life.’ 

“Police Officers often have an austere appearance, but we are all human. I have a wife, two children, a mortgage… but, of course, your professionalism, training and experience provide you with the wherewithal to navigate those dark moments.”

In his office at Police HQ, which has a surprisingly good sea view to the south of St. Helier, D/Supt. Gull speaks in a calm and measured way. 

Not only is he aNational Crisis Hostage Negotiator, he is also one of three strategic firearms commanders which means that he has responsibility for authorising armed responses. He is on call one day in every three. “It’s not uncommon to be woken at two or three in the morning, be briefed and determine whether it’s appropriate to authorise officers to use their firearms.” 

Pictured: "Police Officers often have an austere appearance, but we are all human."

And that, he says, happens more often than you might think. Last year there were 108 firearm incidents, with firearms authority given for 81 of them.

Although serious crime is rarein Jersey, the Police do of course need to have the capability to deal with it. An increasingly diverse growing population also presents its challenges. Last December, the Police had to deal with a gang rape involving five Romanian nationals, none of whom had English as their first language. 

“Thankfully, incidents of that nature are not the norm, but they do present a challenge,’” he says. 

“Jersey remains a safe place to live, work and visit,” he says. “On average, we respond to about 20,000 incidents a year. About 3,000 of those will involve a crime that we formally record and investigate. We as a service are increasingly working in the area of safeguarding and public protection, responding to concerns for welfare or mental health issues, and at the other end of the spectrum we deal increasingly with different forms of cybercrime, victims of fraud or online exploitation.”

In his 40 years’ service, the greatest change he has seen is the progress of technology. “When I joined the force, we didn't even have a secure radio network,” he smiles. “It brings with it its own challenges, but mobile phones are a rich source of evidence for us.”

Social media, he says, can be both a help and a hindrance. There was a lot of public speculation when Adrian Lynch went missingin December 2015and his body wasn't found until the following August. The Police had to keep an open mind, but there was no credible information indicative of a crime.

The Jersey Police have a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter - using it for appeals and particularly for missing persons, can be highly effective, he says.

On the other hand, “trolls and naysayers” are not always helpful. 

“We respect freedom of speech and we respect people’s views but we would also ask that people respect professionals going about their work often in very difficult circumstances,” he said. “And of course those individuals who sit on the sidelines, they haven’t got the full picture.”

In the last two years, Cheyenne O’Connor hit the headlines by bringing more than a dozen men to justice by posing as a child on internet dating sites.

“We have a relationship with Cheyenne, as we would with any other individual who presented evidence of criminality,” D/Supt. Gull said. 

Pictured: Cheyenne O'Connor hit the headlines by posing as a child on internet dating sites to bring more than a dozen men to 'justice'.

“She has presented a number of cases which have led to successful prosecutions, but we can’t formally work with so-called vigilantes because they operate outside the law. We have to comply within the European Convention on Human Rights and our own legislation and Regulation of Investigative Powers Law [RIPL] which provides the framework for covert work. It has to be authorised, it has to be lawful, necessary, proportionate and justified.

“Individuals who go off at a whim, however well intentioned, often don’t have a full appreciation of the potential consequences, and the risks they are exposing themselves to." 

He added that cybercrime is becoming more sophisticated and that’s where the Police can use social media in a positive and proactive way, quickly highlighting scams.

“The worldwide web has made the world a very small place,” he said. “An individual can have a reach into Jersey from anywhere in the world and get right into your home and your personal details. The best approach to this is prevention.”

One of the challenges has been policing the island with fewer staff. The States of Jersey Police have fewer officers than, say, ten years ago. There are 190 officers and another 100 who don't carry a warrant card, but who work on hi-tech, financial crime and intelligence.

Pictured: D/Supt. Gull says one of the challenges has been policing the island with fewer staff.

“We introduced our community-based policing model last October. It does represent a better use of resources, and is properly risk-assessed.” What it means is that, for example, during the small hours of the morning, there may only be a small number of officers on duty. 

“It’s about working smarter,” he said. Utilising technology also helps - Officers now have tablets to allow them to complete statements, reports and risk assessments without having to return to HQ.

As he reflects on his 40-year career, D/Supt. Gull says he has been very fortunate.  

“I have served in both uniform and CID in every rank up to and including Chief Superintendent, which I think has made me a better Police Officer, manager and leader. I care passionately about the staff and I get the greatest satisfaction from seeing them develop and grow in confidence.

“I like to think of myself as a bit of a wise, old owl.” 

One quality that he hopes most Police Officers have is the ability to listen. “I often say: Don’t just hear. Listen. Actively listen to whoever you’re engaging with. Listening is often more important than talking. I like to think I’m compassionate, that I have good foresight and lateral thinking. I often say to colleagues, don’t just look in front of you, get your head up and look to the horizon, look beyond where is this going.”

Pictured: The Detective Superintendent says one of the most important qualities in a Police Officer is the ability to listen.

 D/Supt. Gull, now 56, thinks that he will at some point return to England where his grown-up children live with their respective partners.

“Jersey’s not necessarily for keeps, but I do count myself privileged to work here in the latter stages of my Police career. I think that, thanks to the island’s size, this is a place where you can actually make a difference.” 

In his spare time, he is very active, with sports including paddle boarding, running, football and golf. He is also a keen gardener. 

One of the proudest moments of his career was being awarded a Queen’s Police Medal for Services to Policing in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2009. “Whilst the award was for me, I felt that it was in recognition of the support I have had from my wife Cathy and children Emily and Tom.  

“Jersey has a Police service it can feel proud of and I can’t remember a day when I haven't looked forward to going to work.”

This article first appeared in the May edition of Connect magazine. Read it in full here.