Andy Cooke joined Merseyside Police in 1985 having obtained an Honours Degree in Politics from Nottingham University and has served as a Detective at every rank.

In 1998 he was promoted to Temporary Detective Inspector in charge of the Robbery Squad, where he led and managed covert investigations into force wide and regional armed robbery offences. In 1999 he was promoted to Detective Inspector in charge of Target Operations and the Major Crime Unit where he was responsible for the conviction of numerous key individuals involved in serious and organised crime.

In 2001 he was promoted to Detective Chief Inspector, Senior Investigating Officer, in the St. Helens area where he was responsible for leading all major investigations and the development of crime reduction strategies. On promotion to Detective Superintendent he had responsibility for policy formulation as the Force Crime Reduction Co-ordinator and later returned to St. Helens.

In 2005 he was promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent and became the first commander of the nationally recognised ‘Matrix’ team, responsible for tackling gun and gang enabled crime. In 2006 he became Area Commander for South Liverpool where he was instrumental in significantly reducing crime, anti social behaviour and disorder. During this time, South Liverpool became one of the highest performing Basic Command Units in the country.

Whilst at Liverpool South he devised an approach to tackling serious and organised crime within the security industry in the run-up to Capital of Culture 2008. The initiative was launched at a national level and continues to drive criminality out of the industry.

In 2008 he left Merseyside after being appointed as Assistant Chief Constable to Lancashire Constabulary with responsibility for Specialist Operations. During this time he devised strategies that significantly improved the safety of communities in Lancashire by developing the force’s capability to deal with serious, organised and cross border criminality through the implementation of a co-ordinated, multifaceted approach to serious criminality and the introduction of a £3.5m Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) programme across Lancashire.

In 2010 he became Assistant Chief Constable for Territorial Operations, Criminal Justice and Contact Management, leading the Constabulary to considerable reductions in crime and increased detections against a backdrop of significant cuts and resources. Nationally, he has the privilege of being the NPCC lead for Protected Persons (formerly Witness Protection) and he is currently leading a programme to implement witness protection on a national basis under the   National Crime Agency.

In 2012 he left Lancashire Constabulary to return to Merseyside Police after being appointed Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for the Operations portfolio.

In August 2013, he took up the post of Temporary Deputy Chief Constable and was appointed Deputy Chief Constable in September 2013.

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014, he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal. 

He became Chief Constable, Merseyside Police in July 2016. He retired on 11/04/2021 and was a appointed as HMICFRS (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services).