Telford Police’s new Territorial Policing Commander Superintendent Gary Higgins

It’s good to be back.

For the third time in my 29 years as a police officer I have been given the exciting opportunity to return to Telford, this time as the Territorial Policing Commander, writes Telford Police’s new Territorial Policing Commander, Superintendent Gary Higgins.

I am delighted to be back and looking forward to serving you and to meeting and working with some old friends and new acquaintances over the coming years.

In the challenging financial times we all have ahead of us my job will be to ensure that I lead, organise and task the resources I have available in Telford and Wrekin to provide the highest possible quality of service and to deal with the crimes and issues that matter most to the local people.

As someone born and bred in Shropshire, this county and its people are close to my heart and I am committed to doing my very best to make this an even safer and better place to live and work.

Background

In the early 1980s – as an 18 year old and with limited experience of life – I applied to join West Mercia Police. I was successful, but I was advised that there was an 18 month waiting list.

The recruitment sergeant said that I could sit out the wait or consider applying to the London Metropolitan Police and transfer back to West Mercia on completion of the probationary period.

I decided to try for the Metropolitan Police and within three months I was sitting, petrified, in a classroom at the Met’s main police training school in Hendon. Prior to this my travels out of Shropshire had been the obligatory week’s caravan holiday with my family on the North Wales coast and organised coach trips to Yorkshire to support my beloved Leeds United. Hence the ‘petrified’ bit when I arrived in London.

This was the start of what turned out to be an exciting, eventful and very busy first five years as a police officer. Some of the challenges included being part of a team drafted into Broadwater Farm following the riots, spending many hours involved in the Sun International riots in Wapping, working as part of the increased security team at Buckingham Palace following the intrusion by Michael Fagin, and being part of the reassurance team in central London following the Harrods bombing.

The highlights included working at the old Wembley Stadium for just about every major sporting event and concert between 1981 and 1986. This included Royal Box security at an FA Cup Final, pitch side security at England football internationals and one really memorable evening as dressing room security for a Frank Bruno fight.

Eventually though the draw of Shropshire became too much and my wife and I decided to head for home. My first posting on arriving in West Mercia was as a response Pc in Telford.

Since then I have worked in a variety of both uniform and plain clothes roles, mainly between Telford and Shrewsbury, and have actually served the people of Telford in every rank, from Pc to superintendent.

So, as I said, it’s good to be back in Telford, although I am aware we have some significant challenges ahead. I intend to tackle these head on and always with the best interests of the people of Telford at the heart of my thinking.

I know I have an excellent police team here and with your continued support, and by listening to and working closely with you, together with our partners, I know we will be successful in our quest to make a difference together.