Humberside chief constable David Westwood was finally suspended today after British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, won a Court challenge over his right to order the move.
Mr Blunkett had demanded the suspension of Chief Constable Westwood after his force was blamed in a report last month for "shocking failures" leading up to the 2002 Soham murders.
But the police authority had repeatedly rejected his orders, saying the Chief Constable was being made a "scapegoat" for the deaths of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Having won the right to challenge the authority, the case of Chief Constable Westwood's possible suspension is now being heard, with a decision expected later today.
Today's court hearing was the first test of the British Home Secretary's right under new legislation to order a police authority to comply with his instructions.
The Bichard inquiry into the Soham murders criticised Chief Constable Westwood's force, which allowed murderer Ian Huntley to get a job as caretaker at Soham Village College, Cambridgeshire, where he killed the girls.
The report said Chief Constable Westwood's force failed to link a string of previous allegations against Huntley of rape and underage sex.
Chief Constable Westwood has the backing of Holly Wells's father, Kevin, who said it would be a travesty if Westwood were forced to resign.