A NEW District Commander for Thurrock has been announced.

Chief Inspector Mark Barber has taken up the new post with one main mission - to make Thurrock, and Essex, a safer place.

Chief Inspector Barber began his policing career as a police constable in Thurrock.

16 years later and he's now set to take charge of policing in the area.

During his career, the 36-year-old has worked at every rank in Thurrock, alongside moves into domestic abuse policing, CID, Op Raptor and public protection.

Mr Barber said: "I have effectively come back to where it all started for me. I have actually been here at every rank. That’s why I actively applied to come here; I have pre-existing relationships with partner agencies, which means I’m not coming in cold – quite the opposite in fact.”

However Mr Barber knows that policing in the area comes with its challenges.

Alongside day-to-day policing of Grays, South Ockendon, Purfleet and Aveley, Tilbury, East Tilbury, Stanford le Hope and Corringham, the district also takes in sites such as the Dartford Crossing and Lakeside shopping centre.

Mr Barber acknowledges that the district cannot be policed using a one-size-fits-all approach.

Entering the new role, his top priority is to increase engagement with Essex Police from across the community, starting with the district's Challenge Panel. This gives residents the chance to actively challenge police on how the district is being policed.

Mr Barber said: "We police by consent so actually all the questions people may have of us are entirely valid. That’s why I am looking forward to events such as the Challenge Panel and engaging with partners and the public.

"The biggest priority is to get that engagement going and that’s where our community safety engagement officers can come in – they are tasked with just going out and opening up that dialogue with people we may not be reaching now or may not have reached historically.”

Other priorities top of the new District Commander's list include keeping residents safe by tackling hate crime, knife and violent crime, domestic abuse and immigration crime.

Mr Barber added: "Realistically, that’s what I believe residents want to know; will we tackle these crime types. I’m here to say we will – and not just reactively, there is a lot of proactive work going on in our community policing team here for example.

“My message to the people of Thurrock would be that we are here to help you, to keep you safe and make the area a safer place.

“I live in Essex, my family and friends live in Essex, so I know if I can make Thurrock safer, I am making Essex a safer place for people and I’m proud of that.”