Burnham-On-Sea police inspector Roger Tolley is taking on an expanded role in policing the whole of Sedgemoor from the start of April.
He is to be appointed to a new post overseeing the new single Sedgemoor policing area from April 1st as part of a restructuring move.
Currently, the Sedgemoor District Council area is divided into two policing sectors, each run by a separate Inspector – Shane Carey at Bridgwater and Roger at Burnham.
The situation is unique in Somerset since in all other parts of the county each neighbourhood policing area, each run by an Inspector, covers the totality of one district council area. This applies to Mendip, South Somerset, West Somerset and Taunton Deane and the system works well.
The two policing areas in Sedgemoor are therefore uniting under Inspector Tolley to further improve the service to the public around the clock, particularly the 24-hour response service across the whole of the Somerset West policing area.
Inspector Carey will move across to join colleagues who oversee the emergency response teams for the district.
Chief Superintendent Daimon Tilley, District Commander for Somerset West, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Inspector Tolley is a highly experienced and capable officer, with a very strong track record of community policing.”
“His degree of motivation and enthusiasm to work tirelessly for his local communities is second to none and I know in this new post he will continue to deliver and maintain excellent standards of policing in a more efficient management structure.”
“This change is not a reduction in either the total number of Inspectors, or in the policing service. It is designed to improve our service to the public and will not impact on how frontline services are delivered in the Sedgemoor area. Officers will continue to work, as they do now, from Bridgwater, Burnham-On-Sea and Cheddar police stations.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Inspector Carey for his hard work, tenacity and dedication to his role, which has seen significant improvements in the service received by the public and in the numbers of offenders brought to justice.”
Inspector Tolley has been a Neighbourhood Inspector for four years, initially at Taunton and currently at Burnham. Under his leadership, he and his staff have helped reduce crime by 11.2% at Burnham-On-Sea.
This has subsequently increased the number of offenders brought to justice by 12.3% at Burnham-On-Sea. Championing a culture of citizen focused policing within his staff, Inspector Tolley and the Burnham policing team have also reduced the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour by over 37% during the last two years.
He won the Ray Robinson Award in November 2011, an annual award given to the police officer or group of officers whom it is judged to have made the greatest contribution to community relations outside of the Greater Bristol area.
Other notable achievements include providing leadership to a number of new initiatives, such as developing and promoting the use of criminal justice panels, leading the High Contact Families project, which aims to help those families who struggle to access the support they need from public services, and significantly increasing the number of police volunteers working at Burnham-On-Sea Police Station.
Roger Tolley told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “My aim is to be the best performing policing area with the safest and most satisfied communities in the force!”
“I intend to tackle the issues that our communities have sighted as their priority, particularly drug and acquisitive crime, including burglary and thefts from sheds and outbuildings. These will be my top priorities.”
“This kind of criminality, which impacts not only on individual victims but the wider community, will not be tolerated and I intend to take immediate and robust action.”
“We currently have good detection rates across Sedgemoor and I intend to ensure that every victim of crime or anti-social behavour is left absolutely satisfied with our service and receive the quality of service they both expect and deserve.”
“We will continue to work hard with the aim of maintaining and raising the public’s trust and confidence in their local police service by ensuring that the communities needs are recognised and addressed and that the public, especially victims, are put first at all times.”
“I want to send a very clear message to those involved in criminality, whose behaviour impacts negatively on our community – myself and my staff will be working tirelessly to ensure that you are brought to justice quickly.”
Inspector Tolley added: “It is important that the community talks to us. I encourage them to come forward with information about what is happening in their area. I would also encourage them to contact me if they feel that their local police are not delivering the quality of service they expect. Constructive feedback, both positive and negative, helps us to continue to improve our service.”
“The dialogue between the local residents and police is vital to ensure that we all have a healthy understanding of the needs and expectations of the community, so that we can continue to live and work in a really safe area.”
To contact Inspector Tolley you can call the new 101 number.
