The area commander now overseeing Cambridgeshire Police’s operations across Peterborough and Fenland says his teams are “getting back to basics” to deliver solid, professional policing.
Superintendent Ben Martin said: “We’re trying our very best to do a good job and that really is us getting back to basics and doing what I think are the core roles of policing.
“[That is] responding to the public quickly when someone phones us in an emergency; we turn up quickly, deal with [the incident] professionally and we gather evidence at the scene comprehensively.
“We then treat our victims and witnesses with dignity, respect and understanding. We believe our victims and witnesses where appropriate, and we do a good job to bring back trust and confidence in policing which has taken a hit in recent times.
“And we continue to do these things professionally. We lock up the bad guys, which is what you’d expect from the police, and then we do our paperwork properly when we get back to the police station.
“And the detectives investigate thoroughly, properly and our victims are kept up to date to make sure we get that enduring public protection and that enduring justice for our victims.”
He added: “It really is the basics of policing. If we do all those things, we will make an impact on all crime types.
“Yes, there are situations where we do have to look at specific issues.
“Sometimes we need specialist initiatives to address a certain problem if it is impacting us disproportionately.
“Operation Interstellar, for example, was launched last autumn to tackle prolific business crime and shop theft in Peterborough city centre.
“It targeted a small cohort of people committing a large proportion of those crimes.”
One prolific thief, for example, received an eight-week prison sentence at Peterborough Crown Court in December.
Supt Martin started his new post just before Christmas, taking over from Supt Neil Billany as Area Commander for Peterborough and Fenland.
He has worked in Cambridgeshire for 18 years and moved into local policing from his previous role of looking after criminal justice, custody and investigation standards for the force.
His policing career has predominantly involved detective work both in Cambridge and Peterborough, investigating crimes from violence to drugs, burglary to rape and domestic abuse to counter terrorism.
More recently, he spent a long time working within the Professional Standards Department for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
Supt Martin says his first few months in the role involved understanding internal structures and how policing is being delivered across Peterborough and Fenland.
He has also spent time getting out and about to understand the issues communities are experiencing and to meet with various partners that liaise with the police.
One example is anti-social behaviour, which can range from a car cruise in Peterborough to street drinking and shoplifting in a city or town centre.
And despite a knock to the reputation of policing in recent years, Supt Martin says he does feel residents do trust the police in Cambridgeshire.
The force also has more officers than it has ever had before, although there are experience gaps as those who are newly trained are at the beginning of their careers.
Supt Martin added: “We’re doing everything we can in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Fenland to make sure we offer the best service we can.
“I do think the things I previously talked about around dealing with people fairly, professionally, with integrity and making sure we offer that professional and timely service are ways people can trust us.
“Any ultimately have confidence in what we do.”
The candidates are:-
- Darryl Preston (Cons) who is hoping for re-election;
- Anna Smith (Labour Co-op), a councillor at Cambridge City Council and Deputy Mayor at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority; and
- Edna Helen Murphy (Lib Dems), a councillor for Cambridgeshire County Council and chair of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority.
The election will take place on May 2, 2024. The result will be declared the following day.
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