THERE has been yet another change of commander for Thurrock's police force.

Chief Inspector Mark Barber is the latest in a succession of senior officers in the borough – and like his predecessors he has made immediate claims about making the borough's streets safer!

Ch Inspector Barber replaces Ch Insp Richard Melton who moved into the hot seat in 18 months ago.

His commitment to the public of Thurrock on taking office was: "I want to ensure that residents see our officers visibly dealing with local crime and anti-social behaviour on the streets."

He was preceded by Chief Inspector Claire Talbot, who was appointed in 2018.

And there was a succession of leading officers in the years before her appointment.

Ch Insp Barber marked his new appointment by saying: "I want to make each area of the district safer and, by doing that, Essex will become a safer place."

It is a completion of a circle for the new top cop, who began his policing career as a police constable in Thurrock 16 years ago.

Since then the 36-year-old has worked at every rank in Thurrock alongside moves into domestic abuse policing, CID, Op Raptor and Public Protection.

He said: "I have effectively come back to where it all started for me. I have actually been in Thurrock at every rank. That's why I actively applied to come here; I have pre-existing relationships with partner agencies, which means I'm not coming in cold – quite the opposite in fact."

But he says he knows policing the area comes with its challenges, quoting the fact that Thurrock is 'unique' in Essex, with more than 90 active faith groups and a high proportion of black and minority ethnic residents.

And as well as the day-to-day policing of Grays, South Ockendon, Purfleet and Aveley, Tilbury, East Tilbury, Stanford-le-Hope and Corringham, the district also takes in the sites such as the Dartford Crossing, Lakeside shopping centre, which has its own policing team.

As a result, Ch Insp Barber says it is clear that the district cannot be policed using a one-size-fits-all approach, adding: "In fact it's very much the opposite of that as every single area in Thurrock is different. And I think when we understand that, we can be a better police service for the area.

"From that I hope we will develop better links with the communities which may even, down the line, lead to an increase in recruitment from our underrepresented areas."

Ch Insp Barber says his top priority is to increase engagement with Essex Police from across the community, starting with the district's Challenge Panel. The panel gives residents the chance to actively challenge police on how the district is being policed.

The married dad-of-two and keen runner said: "We police by consent so actually all the questions people may have of us are entirely valid. That's why I am looking forward to events such as the Challenge Panel and engaging with partners and the public.

"As I say, the questions the public have for us are entirely valid and if we don't hear them, we don't know about them.

"So for me, the biggest priority is to get that engagement going and that's where our community safety engagement officers can come in – they are tasked with just going out and opening up that dialogue with people we may not be reaching now or may not have reached historically."

Ch Inspector Barber adds he is realistic that the first role of Essex Police is to keep its residents safe and that means tackling hate crime, knife and violent crime, domestic abuse and, sadly because the district is home to a number of ports, immigration crime.

He added: "Realistically, that's what I believe residents want to know; will we tackle these crime types. I'm here to say we will – and not just reactively, there is a lot of proactive work going on in our community policing team here for example.

"My message to the people of Thurrock would be that we are here to help you, to keep you safe and make the area a safer place.

"I live in Essex, my family and friends live in Essex, so I know if I can make Thurrock safer, I am making Essex a safer place for people and I'm proud of that."