DEPUTY Chief Constable (DCC) Stuart Hyde today received his Queens Policing Medal (QPM) from Buckingham Palace.

DCC Hyde joined Cumbria Constabulary in 2009 and is due to retire on December 31, after being taken off duty last September over allegations of misconduct.

He was cleared following an independent investigation, and returned to Cumbria police in September this year.

DCC Hyde has had a varied career covering detective and uniform posts whilst serving in four forces across the country.

In 1983 he joined Avon and Somerset Constabulary culminating in his final role as Head of Drugs and Crime Squads.

In 1997 he joined West Yorkshire Police on promotion to Detective Superintendent and thereafter as Chief Superintendent he worked as the Divisional Commander in Bradford and Head of the Training Centre.

He was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police in 2004.

During his career, Mr Hyde has taken a keen interest in reducing crime against students including his sponsorship to create the Police Association of Higher Education Liaison Officers (PAHELO) and the ACPO lead for student crime.

He also was one of the architects for the creation of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP).

He was a member of the national Fraud Review implementation team working with the newly formed National Fraud Authority that introduced “Action Fraud”.

Mr Hyde has a keen interest in IT related issues, taking on the ACPO lead for E-Crime prevention and Cyber Crime training.

He was a president of the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace and in 2008 received an Honorary Doctorate in Technology at the University of Wolverhampton.

Temporary Chief Constable Bernard Lawson said “Stuart Hyde was awarded the QPM in the Queen’s birthday honours in June 2012 in recognition of his significant contribution to national policing particularly issues in tackling student crime and Fraud through the use of IT.

"He is to be congratulated for this achievement.”