A temporary commander has been appointed to the Staffordshire Moorlands local policing team.
The announcement came as the Staffordshire force launched its new policing model, which the constabulary said “brings significant investment” in the number of officers responding locally throughout Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Temporary Ch Insp Karen Cooke has 25 years’ experience within Staffordshire Police and has taken up the role after a varied career across several different departments, including working in response policing and licensing.
Most recently, she was responsible for managing the Northern Area Custody Facility.
Speaking of her new role, Ch Insp Cooke said: “I’m really looking forward to this new challenge and working alongside the great team of dedicated officers and staff in the Moorlands.
“I live locally so I have a vested interest in making the area the best it can be. I have links with the local communities and partners, and I’m looking forward to building on these relationships in my new role, with a focus on solving and tackling the issues that matter most to people.
“The new policing model will bring lots of benefits to the communities we serve. It’s a really exciting time for the force and I’m committed to making the Moorlands a safe place to live, work and visit.”
Designed to strengthen the force’s focus on local policing and partnerships, the new model sees emergency response officers operate from 10 local areas alongside neighbourhood officers and PCSOs.
The Biddulph area would come under Leek local policing team.
Announced in February 2022 by the newly-appointed chief constable, Chris Noble, the changes have been made to enable officers to respond quicker to emergencies, develop enhanced local knowledge in order to solve problem, have more time to investigate and provide a “high-quality, consistent and caring service” for victims of crime.
Ch Cons Noble said: “It’s been months of planning, analysis and consultation with colleagues and partners to build a model that will allow us to respond in the way the public wants and needs us to, also giving us more time to focus on the issues that matter most to local communities.
“The model has also received the backing of Ben Adams, the police and crime commissioner, who believes it will help deliver some of the commitments made in the county’s police and crime plan.”
Ch Cons Noble added: “It is critical we are more closely embedded in, and visible to, local communities so we can work most effectively with the public and partners to solve issues and prevent crime and I am confident this approach to policing enables greater ability to deliver against these aims.”
As part of the new model, bespoke harm reduction hubs will operate in every local policing area, made up of “dedicated problem-solvers” who will tackle high demand, high risk crimes and anti-social behaviour through prevention, effective partnership working and early intervention.
There has also been investment in the force’s specialist crime teams and in securing more staff in the force contact and control centre.
While the former supports teams who investigate the most serious and complex crime types, the investment in the contact centre will seek to improve call answering times and better resourcing of the digital channels used by the public to report crime, such as Facebook, Twitter and the force website.
“While we need to respond faster and more efficiently to emergencies, it’s important we look at and understand the changing nature of crime and the complex and sustained numbers of calls we have to respond to on a daily basis,” Ch Cons Noble said.
“Our contact and control centre is key to informing our daily operations and significant work is being undertaken in order to achieve an improved service for the public at first point of contact.”
