County's new police boss writes first blog for Shropshire Star

I will be writing a regular blog for the Shropshire Star to share some of our successes and to advocate for my officers and staff. Many of them live in this wonderful county, and they care passionately about its communities as they are part of them. They raise their families here, spend time hiking up our hills or rowing down our rivers – the point I'm making is that crime hurts them on a personal level as much as a professional one.

Each blog I'd like to focus on one issue and for my first I would like to touch upon County Lines and the impact it can have on Shropshire, and how we are tackling this issue. You've probably heard what they are, and our proximity to urban connotations makes us susceptible. The supply of illegal drugs causes misery to many. From children exploited to transport them, to dealers on the street at risk of violence, through to users. County Lines also impacts on the wider community, who fear the harm and consequences.

A thread runs throughout these lines however, and that is vulnerability. Often those dealing drugs have their own story, riddled with trauma that has defined them, as well as taking criminal justice action, we also need to offer diversionary tactics. I'm far more interested in pursuing lines to the root cause and organised criminality that is profiteering.

We work closely with colleagues in the West Midlands and Merseyside areas to do this, using an array of tactics – some of which you will never see. Around 18 months ago, we had 24 active lines in our county, and today that sits in single figures. I don't ‘high five’ policing for this, as it is a partnership effort that needs relentless pursuit, and I thank everyone involved. I'm also not naïve to the fact that these figures could rise again – we cannot lose focus.

Now I should add that Shropshire is an incredibly safe place to live, work and visit. Never forget this. Sadly, like anywhere, we can and do sometimes get the worst of crime, but be assured this is infrequent and when it does happen, we invariably step up and deliver for the victims and community.

Now the sales pitch. You can learn more about what we do, get messages from your teams and even interact with them via our messaging system neighbourhoodmatters.co.uk, and for those keen to get more involved, we are recruiting police officers. We all know things are tough at the moment and policing isn't immune to that and some days are hard, but it remains an incredibly rewarding career, which I'd start again in a flash.