Interview: Gloucestershire's new police chief Rod Hansen takes office

Mr Hansen had served as deputy chief constable since 2013 until he was asked by the police and crime commissioner Martin Surl to take over the role of chief this April.

His expansive CV includes experience as a hostage negotiator which began in 1998 and saw him become the south west’s regional coordinator followed by work training negotiators in the Greek police for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

He feels this experience will have a positive impact on his new role: “It’s a real privilege for me to come in as the chief after 28 years in the second oldest constabulary in the country.

“I’d like to combine my experience and ambition for the constabulary with the support that I get from my staff and from the public and partners to optimise the organisation as best as we can.

“There is still a challenge over the savings requirement that we need to make but I’m confident we’ll get through that and continue to deliver high class services for the public.”

Mr Hansen is the current chief police advisor to the military Joint Task Force Headquarters (JTFHQ) and is the nation’s police service lead for mounted policing and police dogs.

Gloucestershire constabulary has been on the receiving end of some scathing assessments from police watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of the Constabulary (HMIC) over the past few months, a matter which Mr Hansen has not overlooked.

He said: “If you read all the details there is an awful lot of positive narrative in there, our staff work incredibly hard, often with many staff putting themselves in harm’s way.

“The grading is very clinical but that’s not to say that we’re defensive about it at all. I think we should be a very transparent and self-effective organisation that learns from all feedback.

“We’ve already made great inroads in addressing many of the vulnerabilities identified in those reports. I’m very confident that the next time we’re inspected it will be a more optimistic representation of the effort that is put in every day by our staff.”

Mr Hansen acknowledges that one of the fiercest ongoing challenges facing the force is the need to repeal funding, with £30 million being slashed over the last few years from a £103 budget and a further £6 million reduction required by 2021.

He said: “The skill is to make sure that we find ways to be as efficient as we can by using technology where we can afford it, making sure that our processes are lean and our tasking is focussed on the things that bring the greatest issues and threats to our communities.

“The organisation will change as a result of the further changes that we will make or are required to make, but we’ll lead through that as we’ve done before and we’ll come up with an appropriate and proportionate plan.

“We might be sparse on resource and money but we’re rich in great people as a constabulary. I’m very confident that whatever the challenges we will work through them together because that’s what the public of Gloucestershire deserve, and it’s my privilege to be part of that.”

At the heart of everything Mr Hansen aims to achieve in his new role is a consistent focus on neighbourhood policing.

He said: “I firmly believe that everything in policing starts and ends in the neighbourhood, whether it’s theft of milk or counter-terrorism.

“The challenge is trying to ensure that we preserve what people are historically used to seeing and feeling in the neighbourhood, including officers patrolling, whilst addressing threats and risks that aren’t directly obvious.

“Many of the crimes that we are now confronting are highly personalised crimes, private crimes to individuals, such as abuse, modern-day slavery, grooming and sextortion.

“We have to somehow equip our workforce to be able to understand how to deal with them responsibly and with compassion without sacrificing other services that the public value.”

Despite the pressures to meet these ongoing demands chief Hansen announces that the force will not be reducing the amount of PCSOs, is doubling the size of its special constabulary (volunteer officers) and will continue to recruit further officers.

When asked if he would be focussing on key areas of crime over his tenure, such as knife crime, organised crime or cyber-crime, an area where he feels the county’s forces is a national lead, Mr Hansen responded: “Cyber-crime requires a lot of technological skills and a culture-shift in our staff’s thinking.

“All issues are important, cyber-crime is probably more prevalent out of all of those and effects more people. Knife crime affects less but when it happens it’s devastating so a proportionate amount of our time on all of those things is important.”

Mr Hansen feels that much of what will enable the police force to further tackle crime depends on the public’s confidence.

With this confidence he feels more crimes would be reported, especially highly personalised crimes like stalking, which will enable the force to confront them effectively and efficiently.

Above - CC Rod Hansen with PCC Martin Surl

But none of this would be possible without the very officers and support staff who make up the force, Mr Hansen said: “Much of my time and effort and focus is going to be on supporting the brave men and women of the constabulary.

“Enabling staff to come to work in the first place feeling confident and secure is critical to ensuring that when they then go out and deliver policing services, whether that’s carrying a gun or a Taser or interacting with school children, that they have to be in the right mind and are fully fit and able to do that.

“We don’t make televisions, missiles or ice-cream, we recruit good people and we train them and support them to become great people.”