A NEW policing model focusing on Huntingdonshire’s needs comes in force today (April 2).

Cambridgeshire police is now divided into six areas in line with district boundaries and will see uniformed officers, detectives, PCSOs and special constables working together as a unit.

Chief inspector Chris Mead is the area commander for Huntingdonshire, and is now responsible for the initial response to incidents, investigation of crimes and incidents, neighbourhood policing, engagement and partnership arrangements, satisfaction, anti-social behaviour and crime reduction.

Reporting to Chief Insp Mead is Inspector Mark Greenhalgh, in charge of community policing, Detective inspector Jon McAdam, the district’s dedicated crime manager, and inspector Terri Griffin who looks after response policing.

Chief Insp Mead said: “I am looking forward to the challenge of leading policing in Huntingdonshire. I last worked here in 2008 as crime manager and I am hoping to build on the successes that has been achieved in recent years. Crime is down and I want to keep it going that way.

“Although our structure is changing the public should not notice a difference and I have deliberately kept a number of officers in post to maintain continuity and ensure we have officers with local knowledge and experience.

“What the public should see is a much more locally focused policing team, working closely with our partners to understand the issues that are relevant to people and maintaining our commitment.”

Chief Supt Andy Hebb, local policing commander, said: “The new local policing model was developed to reduce costs while maintaining the level of service the public receive.

“In fact the number of officers on the frontline will remain the same so in terms of visible officers the public shouldn’t see any difference.

“The new local policing structure means a number of functions that were previously delivered at a local level will now be delivered by centrally based teams. This means that local officers will be dedicated to dealing with local problems and specialist teams can focus all of their efforts on issues such as domestic violence, missing people and integrated offender management.”