“Let’s have more of the same”. That’s the message from the woman who has been appointed the new Inspector of the Calder Valley Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
Inspector Rachel Bairstow has taken over the role from Inspector Dave Shaw, who has moved to Calderdale CID.
And Insp Bairstow has praised the work of her predecessor and says she wants to continue it whilst also adding more of a “feminine touch”.
“It’s a new challenge. But one that I’m looking forward to,” she said.
“I want to make Calderdale a safer place to live and lock criminals up - that’s why we all joined the police.”
Inspector Bairstow will oversee neighbourhood policing teams in Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Luddenden Foot, Sowerby Bridge, Elland, Brighouse, Greetland and other towns and villages in the upper and lower valley, and she knows she has her work cut out.
The married mother-of-one, who lives in Halifax, said: “I’m bringing a bit of a feminine touch to the role of Inspector. I’m looking forward to getting out and about, meeting people and making sure that we are delivering the best service that we can.
“But the place is huge and my biggest difficulty will be being visible to everybody because we literally cover from Shelf to Walsden.
“We can’t do it all on our own. We rely on partners, neighbourhood watches and the public in general to assist us.
“We’re intelligence-led and if we are told something we will follow it up.”
Insp Shaw, who will work in the safeguarding unit at Calderdale CID, thanked members of the public, politicians, police partners and neighbourhood police officers for their help and support during his time in the Calder Valley and said he was leaving the job in good hands.
“The teams we have got here are brilliant. You have got people who live and work in the community so they’re bothered about what’s happening in the valley,” he said.
“The performance in the last 12 months has been really good. We’re down in pretty much all our targets - burglary, theft from motor vehicles. That’s down to the cops and the partners.”
Insp Bairstow was keen to stress that Todmorden Police Station is still open to the public from 10am to 6pm on Mondays for anyone who wants to report non-emergency crimes.