Chief marks 30 years in the force

LEICESTERSHIRE’S Chief Constable Simon Cole’s career in policing appeared to be over before it had began 30 years ago – when the force he now leads rejected his application to join up.

Mr Cole, who marks 30 years as a police officer this week, was told he was not eligible to join his home force because he had – and still has – a form of colour blindness.

Other forces across the region had the same rule – but West Midlands Police did not and the young English graduate began his career there a short time later.

Speaking on his anniversary, Mr Cole reflected on how the job has changed and the challenges he and his colleagues face in tackling the increasing complexity of crime while living with the Government’s public spending cuts.

After passing through the ranks at West Midlands Police, he moved to Hampshire Police before arriving, aged 43, as chief in Leicestershire in April 2010.

He said: “Birmingham was a great place to start policing, dealing with public order, shoplifting, robbery – all sorts.

“But it was always going to be Leicestershire if I got the chance – it’s where I did a lot of my growing up, where my family is from and where the Tigers play.”

The Leicestershire force has made budget savings and cuts of more than £38 million and lost more than 500 officers since 2009. Now, about 1,800 officers serve the counties whereas, at its height, the force employed about 2,300 officers.

“The biggest organisational issue is the pressure of austerity and the reductions in our budget,” Mr Cole said.

“We are constantly evolving and I am hugely proud of our officers and staff. They are brave, both morally and physi- cally.

“They are innovative and like a challenge but the fact the organisation has got smaller means we are having to prioritise and that can be difficult.

“We have saved £38 million in the past few years and we have more than 500 officers fewer.

“When I walked through the door in 2010 we had 2,300 officers and now we are about 1,700, building back toward 1,800.”

While officer numbers have fallen, crime, particularly offences of violence and “acquisitive” offences such as burglary and vehicle crime, have started to rise in recent years, after a decade of decline.

Mr Cole said: “Recorded crime is going up at the moment for a combination of reasons.

“There have been more burglaries and there have been more vehicle crimes.

“Some offences are going up because we are seeking them out.

“For example, we are seeing an increase in domestic violence offences because reporting it is something we have been encouraging. The same applies to sexual offences. We are sitting at about 80,000 offences a year. Compared with recent years that is an increase, but it is lower than a decade ago when it was nearer 100,000.

“The vast majority of calls from the public are not about crime. It’s about vulnerability, safeguarding, missing people or concern about a child’s welfare.

“Things have changed since I joined. Back then, the mobile was something on Tomorrow’s World. Now, most of us have tablets, laptop computers and mobile phones.

“Harm is being done both online and on the street. Our work has been transformed and we need to be able to patrol and investigate online as we do the streets.

“That has been the biggest and most profound change in these 30 years.

“One of the big challenges for policing now is the make sure we take opportunities technology presents us with, just as offenders are exploiting that technology.

“Police have always had to get ahead of criminals. It’s been happening for 180 years.

“To solve a murder now there is still the old-fashioned shoe leather-wearing work, but those officers are now supported by the team in our digital hub.

“They are the best in the country and their work is essential.”

Many police officers retire after 30 years in the job, but Mr Cole said he has no plans to rest just yet.