COLUMN: New chief brings fresh pair of eyes, by Paddy Tipping

I'm delighted to welcome a new leader to Nottinghamshire Police to steer change and keep the force on track for success.

The arrival of new Chief Constable Craig Guildford has brought a fresh pair 
of eyes to our community safety plans and will 
ensure every possibility for progression and improvement is exploited to keep performance and service quality at their optimum levels.

As former Deputy Chief Constable of Gwent Police, Craig has ridden the challenges that financial hardships bring.

And I’m looking forward to seeing how he responds to those same pressures in Nottinghamshire, where performance has continued to supersede budgetary constraints.

Craig spent much of his policing career at Cheshire Constabulary as well a stint at The National Crime Squad in Manchester and so he has a wide breadth of experience across large, medium and small forces which all offer their unique challenges.

Importantly, good communication and engaged communities are high 
on his agenda and he 
echoes my own commitment to 
invest in crime prevention.

We will soon be setting out a list of dates where you can talk to the Chief Constable and I about our plans to develop safer and stronger neighbourhoods and raise any community issues you have.

As I’ve seen so many times before on my travels across Nottinghamshire, it is the smaller issues such as nuisance parking and antisocial behaviour that prevent us from living life more fully and increase our fear of crime.

This is something I’m sure we’ll be very much working together on as Craig settles into his new role.

Cybercrime, hate crime and vulnerability will remain top priority areas in the future and the force will strive to protect neighbourhood policing under his leadership.

Already this year, we’ve hosted our first cybercrime conference which has given businesses the tools they need to develop stronger security strategies to protect their assets.

Policing is an incredibly difficult and challenging job and without the commitment and tenacity of our workforce, the achievements would cease.

The new chief has spoken of his desire to cultivate the best talent out there to deliver a first class service to the public and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the results of his vision.