Top cop to crack down on everything from human trafficking to bad parking

Chief Superintendent Matthew Ward has only been in the job for five weeks, but is already clear on what his priorities are for policing in the borough.

He told the Express & Star he wants to target 'both those things that cause the most concern to people, and the things that cause the most harm to people'.

"They can be two very different things," he said. "Things like anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, burglary and cars being broken into, people are feeling those things and we need to address them.

"But there's also a lot of serious crime that people don't see, such as domestic abuse, exploitation, human trafficking, that take place in all communities but often with hidden victims.

"So my job is to get the balance right in both of those areas."

Ch Supt Ward has already been speaking to members of the community about their main concerns, and will be feeding them into his plans for the local force.

Already he has signed off a dispersal order in parts of Tipton, which was brought into force on Tuesday for six months and will see a crackdown on anti-social behaviour there.

He said: "The main concerns I'm hearing about tend to be around noise nuisance and driving-related offences, inconsiderate parking around places like schools, those very visible things that have a day-to-day impact on people's lives.

"My job is to ensure that my teams are working with the right people to find some long-term solutions to them."

He will also be involved in coordinating his teams with other organisations in the borough, such as the council and the voluntary sector, to find solutions to problems that may not fall under the remit of the police.

A father to six-year-old twins, Ch Supt Ward, aged 40, has been in policing for 19 years in a career that has taken him all over the West Midlands and seen him investigate some of the region's most serious crimes, including the Handsworth riots of 2005.

Originally from Newcastle-under-Lyme, it was a chance meeting with an inspector that led the Cambridge-educated law graduate to a career in the police.

He said: "My decision to join was based on a school project I had to do when I was 14 in which I had to interview someone.

"I didn't have any ideas, but the bus I used to catch home from school stopped next to a police station.

"I decided to walk in and ask them, and the next thing I knew the duty inspector at the time walked out and gave me an hour's interview about his career.

"That left a completely lasting impression on me - he treated me very respectfully, very well, and gave me his time. I left that police station thinking I would like to have that kind of influence for someone else."

Since then he has used this ethos in his police work, and wants this to come across to members of the public from his Sandwell officers.