Shropshire police: Shining (blue) light on how we serve you all

First of all I’d like to introduce myself as your new policing lead, a role I’m honoured and feel privileged to hold. I consider now to be the most interesting, challenging and exciting time in policing history and I am looking forward to the great opportunities this will bring within our county.

This is the first of a regular monthly column from the police and I wanted to let you know a bit about policing in the area. The county is split into two policing areas one for Telford & Wrekin and one for Shropshire. I have, as Chief Superintendent, overall responsibility for both areas and oversee our two local commanders, Superintendent Tom Harding for Telford & Wrekin and Superintendent Jason Wells for Shropshire.

Both Tom and Jason lead a management team for their area made up of two chief inspectors and a detective chief inspector.

Both have been in their roles as local commanders since 2016 and I have every confidence in them to deliver a policing service to you that is fit for purpose and suits your requirements from us.

There is no doubt policing is facing huge challenges at the moment, not just here but right across the country, and I’m really proud of the officers and staff we have here and their commitment and professionalism. They work tirelessly day in day out to do all they can to keep you, our local communities, safe. We couldn’t do this without your support and for that we’re incredibly grateful, it’s not something we take for granted but your support really does make our job easier.

One thing we’re really keen to do is make officers even more accessible and make it even easier for you to let us know what your concerns are. You may have seen an article in the paper a few weeks ago about our safer neighbourhood teams. Each team is led by an inspector and made up of sergeants, Pcs, police community support officers and in some cases special constables – these are people who give up their own time to volunteer as a police officer, amazing I know!

Every town, village and hamlet across the county is covered by a safer neighbourhood team with a dedicated safer neighbourhood officer. They are the familiar faces you will see on patrol, at local meetings and attending local events with their priority getting to know you and helping resolve the issues that concern you the most. They work closely with other organisations, such as the council, and will do all they can to offer reassurance and help make you feel safer.

See also:

• Shropshire police launch 'dial a bobby' scheme

They really do play a vital role in the community and I would encourage you to get to know your local officer and if you see them in the street, stop and say hello. Their role is to engage and interact with members of the public so please do.

Not everyone sees officers when they are out on patrol. You could be at work or indoors and busy but just because you haven’t seen them doesn’t mean you can’t speak to them and, as part of our commitment to being more accessible, we’ve recently made the mobile numbers of all our safer neighbourhood officers public. If you’d like to arrange to meet your safer neighbourhood officer or have a chat with them on the phone then visit our website to find out who it is and give them a ring.

I would like to stress though that this number isn’t for reporting crime. If it is an emergency or a crime is taking place you should always ring 999. If the officer isn’t on duty when you ring they will get back to you when they are next at work.

Another thing we have done recently is to make full use of our mobile police stations so we can take our services right into the heart of our local communities. The station will be on tour throughout the county stopping in key locations giving you the opportunity to pop in and speak to us. If you see it in your street or nearby please do, if you can, take the time to visit.

I also want to let you know about our rural and business crime officers who work closely with the safer neighbourhood teams and rural and business communities to offer advice and support. They provide invaluable reassurance and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in crime prevention advice for local communities. I hope to let you know more about their role and the important part it plays in helping keep us all safer in the coming weeks.

We are constantly looking at ways we can improve the services we provide and are always keen for feedback, if you have any suggestions please do let us know.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first column, it’s a great opportunity for us as police to engage with you so

I’d like to thank the Shropshire Star for the opportunity of letting me have my say and letting you know a bit more about policing. Over the coming months you’ll hear more from me and from both Tom and Jason. If there’s anything you’d like us to discuss then let us know.