New Wolverhampton police chief vows to tackle gangs and violence

Jayne Meir, who recently replaced Simon Hyde as the city's top cop, also said crime prevention is high on her priority list.

She said: "Violence is a priority for Wolverhampton police, particularly amongst our young people. We have a dedicated gangs team who will be looking to manage those individuals and making sure they don't reoffend.

"We have to try and steer young people away from that lifestyle and give them other things to do.

"If young people carry weapons it's only a matter of time before they get hurt or cause harm to someone else. We want the best future for them."

Mrs Meir took up the reins as the city's head of policing on July 25 after a 20-year career that has seen her progress from a bobby on the beat to being part of the counter terrorism unit in London and tackling cyber crime.

Mrs Meir has moved to the Midlands with her wife after a busy and varied career in London, in which she worked in the counter terrorism team at the 2012 Olympics and held a number of key roles.

She hopes her extensive experience down south will stand her in good stead to help keep Wolverhampton safe.

The 42-year-old said: "I have good experience in that I've policed a very busy city with a high threat and risk. What's different about this force is that most officers either live here or have family here and have close links to the area. In forces I've worked in in London, more often that not, none of the officers are from the area so that level of local knowledge isn't quite there.

"Hopefully the tools I bring and the knowledge of our highly experienced team will complement each other well.

"It's been quite interesting and has given me a wealth of experience. I've been exposed to high risk situations. I think it stands me in good stead to help tackle crime here in Wolverhampton and keep people safe. I'm relishing the chance to work here and hope to work with the community to keep the city safe and secure."

She started her career in 1996, working in the big smoke as a beat officer, dealing mainly with burglaries and robberies, before a series of promotions saw her take on some of the forces top jobs.

She added: "I then moved on to work primarily in investigations as a specialist officer dealing with serious sexual offences.

"After that I moved across the Westminster to work at Scotland Yard working with the counter terrorism unit. I spent the next nine years working there and worked my way up to become head of counter terrorism.

"Then I moved into organised crime and was senior investigative officer for kidnap strategy.

"I helped set up Operation FALCON (Fraud And Linked Crime ONline) which was a first for the country."

Operation FALCON, a dedicated fraud and cyber investigations unit, is one of Mrs Meir's proudest career highlights to date.

She said: "Setting it up is something I'm very proud of, it was an area that had been lacking focus and online crime is not always the easiest type of crime to detect. It has led to a lot of convictions. Also, I worked on the counter terrorism unit for the Olympic Games in London in 2012. That was exciting to be part of."

Having studied for a degree in science and started life after university as a retail worker, Mrs Meir didn't take what would be considered a traditional path into the force, but was inspired by family to get into public services.

She said: "Both my father and brother have been firefighters so being in the uniformed services was probably in my psyche. I worked in an online retail business before I joined the police but soon realised that the 9-5 lifestyle wasn't for me. I wanted to do something I thought was meaningful and something that would be different on a daily basis. I loved working on the beat doing different shifts and it's progressed from there.

"I studied biochemistry at Royal Holloway. It's not really something I've been able to use directly with my work in the police. I have a working knowledge about DNA but it was still relatively new when I started in the police. What it did do though was help me learn to work through detailed reports. In investigative work, it can often be the needle in the haystack that ultimately leads to the breakthrough in solving a case."

Now that she's in Wolverhampton, key priorities will be tackling gang culture and violence, as well as looking at ways to prevent crimes before they happen.

She said: "The chief Dave Thompson was clear that he expects West Midlands Police and in particular me to be looking to prevent harm and crime. The focus will very much be on stopping violence and people being hurt and making sure that we can reduce reoffending.

"We need to make sure we are deterring 10-13-year-olds from getting into the gang culture mindset.

"For a long time policing has been all about enforcement. It's been about catching a criminal, getting them to court, getting them convicted and appropriately punished. That's still a very important part of what we do, we need to make sure justice is done.

"But the focus has changed to try and prevent crime before it happens, to work in the community and find out why people are offending, and figuring out ways we can stop people committing crimes and helping and supporting them to become useful and valued members of their community."

Asked if she'd managed to get used to the famous local lingo yet, she said: "It's probably a two way thing, people are probably trying to understand me as much as I understand them. "I'm working hard to meet as many people as I can and find out what they want from the city's police force. I've been out to the West Park fun day which was a good day, the weather held up for us and a lot of people enjoyed themselves. It was good to get out and see people.

"Here is Wolverhampton it's a very diverse city with lots of different cultures. There are a lot of different areas too. You have leafy areas like Tettenhall, but then you have other areas like Whitmore Reans where crime is more prominent and there are a number of issues.

"I've been out and witnessed a number of local people end their course in gang mediation which was fantastic to see.

"I'm really loving it so far, it's a great opportunity for me to do something a bit different.

"I've been posted here by the chief constable, and I'd like to be here for a long time. I'm committed to delivering a consistent service. Simon was in the position for a good few years."

So what does the new chief superintendent hope to leave as her legacy?

She said: "It's hard to say this early on, but I hope to be here for a while and deliver continued improvements. The main focus for me is preventing crime and harm coming to people in Wolverhampton, and making sure people feel safe and secure."