Ray Mallon
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Ray Mallon is the directly-elected Mayor of Middlesbrough in England.
He achieved fame as a senior officer in the Cleveland Constabulary's CID, with his importing of zero-tolerance tactics from the New York PD. He became known as 'robocop' for this approach, and was feted by national politicians.
He was suspended from the post of Detective Superintendent in 1997 due to allegations of corruption that he denied. Cleveland Police launched Operation Lancet to investigate the activities of Mallon and 30 other officers. Although no criminal charges were brought, Mallon faced disciplinary charges ranging from neglect of duty, falsehood and discreditable conduct. Some four years later, Mallon offered his resignation in a bid to free himself from the wrangle but his offer was refused by Chief Constable Barry Shaw. In February 2002, Mallon pleaded guilty to the fourteen disciplinary charges and was "requried to resign" from the force. He maintained his innocence, however, claiming that he admitted the offences simply to allow him to stand for public office.
In 2002 he became the first directly-elected mayor of Middlesbrough, standing on an independent platform. He won overwhelmingly with 26,362 votes out of a total of 41,994 cast, and a majority of 17,000.