New West Devon inspector is all about visible policing

Officer says West Devon is a great place to live and work

Visible policing is important to West Devon’s new inspector and residents can expect to see him or his team members out and about on a daily basis, possibly with his wellbeing dog Bertie.

Insp Nathan Walker says the borough has the most officers it has had in 12 months and with a soon-to-be-opened second police enquiry desk, it is “in a good place”.

Having lived in the area for 16 years, with 12 of those spent with West Devon police, Insp Walker is on familiar territory and pleased to be taking on the new role.

He has been a police constable, sergeant and now inspector on the same turf, scaling the ranks of the neighbourhood team. His roles have included North and West Devon community safety sergeant, with responsibilities for managing youth intervention, responses to anti-social behaviour and partnership work across the area.

The officer, who once flagged up a theft on his own allotment in Okehampton on social media to raise awareness of rural crime and victim support, is keen to show that officers are real people who care about what they do.

“I am wholeheartedly dedicated to this role and being part of the police service. I love West Devon, my family is here, my friends are here, my life revolves around this place and I want to be part of something I am proud of … and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t say the same in the neighbourhood team in West Devon.”

The force’s new ‘statement of purpose’ is community policing delivered with confidence, compassion and common sense. Insp Walker said making people feel like they are listened to, cared for and respected is part of that.

He said he couldn’t underestimate the importance of foot patrols as a solution to some issues as “sometimes the simple things are the best”.

He said the opening of Okehampton police station’s enquiry desk had been “hugely beneficial” as it had been sorely missed and the public now have a  range of ways to contact police, in person, phone or online.

“There was a period of time when that was quite difficult, but not any more,” he said. “The 101 service had some real challenges but it has vastly improved and I want people to feel they can come up and talk to us when they see us out and about, tell what is worrying them or just say hello.”

Tavistock police station will soon open its doors to the public again and that is expected to be a positive step in local engagement with the police.

The new inspector, who joined Devon and Cornwall police in 2005, said that there are now three PCs or neighbourhood beat managers in both Tavistock and Okehampton and three police community support officers (PCSOs) in Tavistock and two in Okehampton, plus Sgt Tom Ottley heading a neighbourhood team in West Devon.

“I think Okehampton will really be starting to notice a difference in visible policing as we have just appointed two new PCSOs,” he said. “Okehampton has not had that for a while and the officers have been spending time in the schools and college and walking around town. In Tavistock we are quite well engaged but we will be making sure that continues.”

Insp Walker will alternate his time between Okehampton and Tavistock and wants to make sure that the other parts of West Devon are not forgotten. He also wants to celebrate the work of the police who are “always there helping people when they need it most”.

The officer owns Bertie, a wellbeing dog, who visit police stations and helps officers and staff with stress management. This runs alongside a national project called Oscar Kilo which supports officer and staff health and wellbeing.

He said that officers faced challenging and difficult situations and Bertie’s presence helps them to open up. “We want them to come back the next day don’t we,” he said.

The West Devon policing team recently organised an online public survey to gauge the opinion of residents.

Statistically West Devon is one of the safer areas of Devon and Cornwall which in turn is the joint second safest place in the country based on crime figures.

Inspector Walker said communities still have issues and he will be meeting with councillors to talk about CCTV as a possible option for anti-social behaviour which has caused the closure of the town centre public toilets several times.