The new man in charge of local policing in Nottinghamshire has vowed to build even stronger links with the many communities the force serves.
Chief Superintendent Sukesh Verma has already won national recognition for his work to increase the number of officers recruited from minority groups, increasing youth outreach opportunities and ensuring Nottinghamshire Police is at the top of the league tables for 999 performance.
He is now looking to build on that success by overseeing and making equally positive changes in the way those same communities view the police and interact with officers.
Chief Supt Verma, the son of a former police officer, said: “public trust is our most valuable resource because it is that trust that gives us the legitimacy we need to police by consent.
“While trust in the police remains high overall, we must also recognise that we still have work to do – particularly in minority communities who we know are less likely to seek our help when they need it, or to share valuable information with us.
“Even since I joined the force two decades ago we have come a long way in this regard. We have greater diversity than ever before and are also doing more proactive outreach work – particularly with young, vulnerable people.
“But that fact remains that nationally, research suggests that 45 per cent of young black children wouldn’t call the police to report a knife incident.
“Such statistics really concern me. This is not just a local issue but it is important that we continue our work to build legitimacy with all our communities. We serve without fear or favour. This is exactly the reason why we expanded the number of cadet bases across the force, including naming our cadet base in Bulwell after Lyrico Steede, a young black man who lost his life to knife crime.”
Chief Supt Verma is the former head of contact management at Nottinghamshire Police – responsible for overseeing the running of the force control rooms, the vulnerability hub, and all initial interactions with the public.
The son of a former police superintendent, he has previously served as an authorised firearms officer and is now a specialist firearms commander, supporting a number of high-threat operations around the UK.
After growing up in a police house, he says that he was more or less born into the role.
He added: “Policing, and more specifically Nottinghamshire Police, has literally been my life and has really been responsible for many of the opportunities I have had.
“My family were initially shopkeepers in Hyson Green before my father became a police officer for Nottinghamshire back in 1983. It was because of his job that I really won the postcode lottery.
“I then grew up in a police house and was always surrounded by police officers and staff.
“Apart from a year I spent down in London after studying politics at university, being a police officer is all I have known and all I wanted to do.
“I am a second-generation officer and I am passionate about the job because I see the good our officers do in our communities every single day. But I also recognise that a lot of people – particularly people in other BAME communities – don’t share those views – often because of high-profile incidents that have nothing to do with Nottinghamshire Police.
“We can only change these opinions and build the legitimacy we need by getting out there and interacting with those people who do think differently about us.
“By doing that we can focus more on long-term prevention of crime rather than waiting for things to happen and responding. This is really where I want us to improve.
“Ultimately that is my vision and I have every faith that we will achieve it. We have great local police commanders and a growing team of passionate police officers and staff.”
• West Bridgford gift shop closed for good after almost 30 years
• NUH Critical Incident Update: 60 patients wait for beds, while 196 wait to go home
