JULIAN Morris, the new police sector inspector for Launceston, Bude, Callington, Camelford and Holsworthy, is settling into the role, after taking over recently from Lynden Hughes.

Insp Morris has been part of the force for 26 years, which has also included three years at Bude and being a custody sergeant at Launceston’s police station — when the cells were in use.

Most recently he has been inspector for the Liskeard area, before ‘jumping at the chance to move to Launceston’.

As a long standing resident of Bude, he explained that he understands the issues within the area and wants to make a difference.

He has been in the role since April 1 and hopes that he is able to build on the work that has been done in the past. He said: “We have a great policing team here, who are all part of the community, as most of the staff all live within the sector itself.”

The biggest push recently has been the work done for the County Lines operation, which insp Morris described as being, ‘very successful’ as his team were one of the first in the county to uncover a County Lines operation, and they have been continuing their operation ever since.

Insp Morris explained: “Despite not having a current issue with County Lines within the area at the moment, it doesn’t mean we are going to stop searching and just rest on our laurels.

“We want to locate and understand what causes most harm in the area and act upon those issues. One thing we have been quite keen on doing is to concentrate on reducing demand through repeat offenders.”

He explained that using initiatives such as the pathfinder programme can help repeated service users from taking up police time.

His recent use of dispersement notices have been quite successful in both Bude and Camelford.

His team have located two people that have been a catalyst to some of the anti-social behaviour issues within Bude; and bringing them to ‘target level status’ has meant the local policing team can more easily identify where the issues may occur.

This also refers to his aim to target those offenders from re-offending in the first instance.

There have recent incidents involving teenagers in Camelford, causing an issue within the town, but a dispersment notice issued by Insp Morris disrupted their activity.

In regards to the work being carried out in Launceston, he praised the efforts of the team working alongside Launceston College, by teaching them about County Lines operations and for the students themselves to teach others about it.

Insp Morris said: “I am hopeful this would be something we might be able to roll out county wide, as it would benefit everyone in the community and help target the young people most likely to be effected.”

A reoccurring theme from the new inspector was that he wants his team to be immersed within the community.

Insp Morris spoke of some of the organisations that work in tangent with the police to help serve the needs of the local communities.

For example, the use of community CCTV networks. He said: “They are run entirely by volunteers, the community in Bude are able to bring any issues to the police to deal with but it is a great asset to have those extra bodies on-board to help identify crimes or any other issues that may arise.”

Another is the use of community volunteers within the community speed watch areas, which have been successful within Camelford and he is hoping for them to be rolled-out within other town’s across the Post area.

Having volunteers within the sector has helped insp Morris and his team focus on policing matters, as opposed to spending time doing more of the menial tasks, such as; driving vehicles down to garages for safety checks, which of course uses up valuable police time and resources.

Insp Morris said: “Some other tasks that volunteers can help with are the neighbourhood watch, speed watch, and also the cadet unit.

“Things like this can help keep officers on the streets, which is what we all want to see.

“If anyone is interested in helping there’s more information on the website.”

He has also said he will be committed to attending the community network panel meetings in the various Post towns. He said: “It gives me chance to talk with the community and local town and parish councillors.”

He urged the public to attend these meetings to voice any issues that they have, as he will be listening and taking note of the community issues.

He said: “It is hugely beneficial for both us and for the public to be able to have an open line of communication.”

Insp Morris also advised people to make use of the other avenues and to get in contact with the local policing team, these included using the internet and visiting the Devon and Cornwall police website, contacting the local neighbourhood watch or neighbourhood police officer.

He continued: “It is also advised for people to make use of the 101 service as talking directly with someone can be a great point of contact.”

Insp Morris was keen to emphasis the good work being carried out by the officers. He said: “I want to thank all of the staff here and across the sector as the work they do is great. Also I want people to be aware of the work we do and the work being done for the community. I am so happy to say this still remains one of the safest places to live.”