West Mercia Police's new chief constable proud to lead force

He believed anything would be possible with a bit of good fortune and a lot of hard work.

"When I went out for the first time, I remember feeling a mixture of pride and a bit of nervousness," he said.

"It was always something I wanted to do, and I felt immensely proud and immensely excited the first time I went out."

A quarter of a century on, Mr Bangham's youthful optimism has been realised.

This week, he became West Mercia Police's first chief constable to have started his career as a constable with the force.

The former Kidderminster schoolboy said the feeling of taking the helm in the area where he has spent most of his life is very similar to the pride and excitement he felt as a fresh-faced youngster.

He has come to the force with his four main priorities clear and a fresh enthusiasm for the job in hand.

"When I first joined the West Mercia force, I believed it was possible for a young constable to achieve anything they wanted to with a bit of luck, the right circumstances, and some hard work," said the 47-year-old, who enjoys walking around the Shropshire Hills during his spare time.

"To now have the opportunity to lead the force where I started my career and have spent most of my life is a huge privilege and a huge responsibility."

He spent his first day in charge in a not dissimilar way to how he started off – pounding the pavements of the West Mercia region, getting to know the patch and meeting members of the public.

He returned to his old beat in Redditch, where he began his career.

He has also been out and about in the Lawley area of Telford, Shrewsbury, Kidderminster, his home city of Hereford, and Worcester.

A keen runner, the married father-of-two said he loves spending weekends walking in the Shropshire countryside.

"I know the county well, I love walking over the Long Mynd," he said.

Mr Bangham said while the nature of policing has evolved in his 25 years in the force, the basic principles of protecting the public, providing visible reassurance on the street and responding to people's concerns was the same as it always has been.

"Some elements of policing are very similar to what they were 25 years ago, we have the same traditional approach of being part of the community, and it is important to reassure the public with a visible presence.

"That could now be in the form of a community support officer rather than a police officer, but it is still as important as it was 25 years ago.

"We now have to deal with cyber crime, there now is a greater emphasis on dealing with the exploitation of the young and the old, and we face an ever greater threat of terrorism.

"Things have changed and evolved over the those 25 years, but we're still a people-based service and a caring service. We still have to serve the public."

The county has recently been rocked by the stabbing of 16-year-old Michael Warham in the Meole Brace area of Shrewsbury.

But Mr Bangham does not believe that means Shropshire is becoming more violent.

"It's a tragic loss of a young life that has happened on the streets of Shropshire, but that can happen anywhere," he said.

"We believe at the moment it was a targeted incident, these incidents are rare, and could happen anywhere.

"They could have happened 25 years ago just as easily as they happen today."

Mr Bangham said the changing nature of both crime and technology means that people will want to access officers in different ways.

"I think in future, it is going to be less about tying up resources in traditional large buildings, and moving towards new ways of interacting with the public.

"Today, people can contact us on social media, members of the public can access us through our website, that wasn't available 25 years ago.

"But we still have to give people a choice of ways to contact us."

Mr Bangham said he is in favour of setting up of police posts in public buildings such as libraries or community centres.

"I would rather have a greater police and community support officer visibility out in the community rather than people having to come into a police station," he said.