Wakefield’s chief of police moves on
Chief Supt Marc Callaghan is moving on from his current job.
THE city’s chief of police hopes to leave a lasting legacy of low crime levels and high public confidence when he moves on to a new role.
Chief Superintendant Marc Callaghan has been the divisional commander for Wakefield for the past five years.
Next month he will take charge of the Force Quality and Standards Department.
Since taking charge, violent crime has fallen by 40 per cent, criminal damage is down by 47 per cent, the numbers of vehicles being stolen has decreased by 60 per cent and the division’s detection rate is the best in the county.
He said: “When I started this role there was a big issue – people felt they could tell the police things but that we weren’t listening. Crime was high and confidence in the police was low.
“I made a promise to the people of Wakefield district that I would listen to what they wanted and that we would act on every single piece of intelligence they gave us.
“One of my biggest legacies is leaving seven neighbourhood police teams that really deliver for their communities.”
His division won national praise for Operation Grassland, an undercover operation led by the city’s neighbourhood police teams to rid the city of drug dealers.
Since it was launched in 2007 hundreds of people involved in drug dealing have been arrested and sent to jail.
Chief Supt Callaghan said: “The thing that I am immensely proud of, particularly recently, is that despite the financial constraints and pressures that have been put on the police, the division still continues to deliver an excellent policing service.
“There isn’t anybody in the service that hasn’t been affected by pension reform or changes to their terms and conditions.
“It really is a difficult and challenging time for a lot of people but despite that they deliver a service the community should be proud of.”
Chief Supt Callaghan also praised the Express Cash Giveaway scheme which gave more than £12,000 to community groups and projects around the city.
On behalf of West Yorkshire Police he donated £7,000 worth of cash seized from criminals.
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Weather for Wakefield
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 5 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
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Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 18 C
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