Three months after moving into the top job of the Port Stephens-Hunter Police District, the new commander has made changes to key senior positions which he says will benefit the community.
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Superintendent Chad Gillies, who became the Port Stephens-Hunter Police District commander in March, said he has had time to assess how the district was travelling across "all areas of the business" and believed now was a good time to rotate senior officers, the inspectors, into new roles.
"First and foremost, it helps develop them individually," he said of the reason behind the changes. "Secondly it provides them with greater situational awareness of the issues across the district and this will bring a fresh energy and perspective to the roles, which I think is important in terms of continual improvement."
Detective Inspector Ranald Urquhart has joined the district as the new crime manager, taking over from Detective Chief Inspector George Radmore. His first day on the job was Monday.
"Detective Inspector Urquhart brings with him a lot of experience from not just working in police districts but also previous experience at the state crime command," Spt Gillies said.
"From my perspective, it's great to have a fresh set of eyes in the crime manager role to help with the strategic direction of how we address crime issues across the district.
"He will be directly responsible for overseeing our detectives, target action group, our crime prevention units and our intelligence units. I have no doubt he will be an asset to our district and community."
Other role changes that came into effect on June 1 included Chief Inspector Tony Townsend, previously the officer in charge (OIC) of Raymond Terrace, becoming the OIC of Maitland.
Chief Inspector Alan Janson is now the OIC of Raymond Terrace, which also takes in the smaller outlying stations such as Tea Gardens and Karuah.
Chief Inspector Rob Post has become the OIC of Nelson Bay, which also includes the Tilligerry Peninsula. He has taken over the role from Inspector Brian Tracey. Chief Inspector Post has also taken on a District Inspector role for police operations.
Acting Inspector Kristin Marshall has been moved into a District Inspector role for human resources and Chief Inspector Craig Reid is now the District Inspector for professional standards.
While the job at hand remains the same, Spt Gillies said he believed it was important for the community to know who the senior leadership team was for the district.
"What you will expect to see in the next period of time is increased visibility from my senior leadership team across our communities and through social and local media platforms," he said.
"I think it's really important for senior police to become known in their communities, from a civic leadership point of view and for the local communities to know who the officers in charge of their sector is.
"But on top of that, each of these officers have a lot of experience as well as a lot of responsibilities in their communities around policing issues and in areas such as emergency management.
"So it's really important that they're visible and accessible across the district and they have a relationship with people in the community."
