New Chief Takes Over In Hampshire

HAMPSHIRE Constabulary will renew its focus on neighbourhood policing as Scott Chilton takes over as the new Chief Constable.

CC Chilton began his career at Hampshire and was previously Chief Constable at Dorset

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said: “Scott has already said he’s very passionate about neighbourhood policing, so that’s something he’s going to focus on. And fight on our behalf for fair pay and better funding for the force, because that means we can recruit more officers.”

The force will improve its operating structure under the new chief, Zoë said. She explained: “During the austerity process we moved to a strand based model, and Scott’s announced that he’s moving to a geographical model of policing, which will see lots of benefits.

“On the strand based you might have a district Chief Inspector who’s in charge of, for example, Fareham and Gosport area, but he or she would have no control over the investigative resources or the response resources.

“So if he was trying to address a particular problem, wouldn’t be able to use those resources because they belong to other strands. With the geographical model, you will have one Chief Superintendent who will be in charge of all those resources for that area.”

Zoë paid tribute to outgoing chief Olivia Pinkney, who has stepped down after 31 years’ service. She said: “It’s been great to work for a Chief Constable who really values the Federation and has included us in pretty much everything, and has valued our views and our opinions, which I know isn’t the same around the country.

“That is something that we really appreciate – it’s good to have had that relationship. I’ve seen a couple of examples where she has shown that she genuinely cares about officers and she’s been visibly upset because of whatever has happened.

“I think that’s really nice for officers to know, that actually their Chief Constable does genuinely care about them, even though they sometimes have to make some really tough decisions. I’ve really enjoyed working with her.”