New sergeant on the beat in Harpenden

Acting sergeant Steven Alison, who grew up and attended school in Harpenden, has joined the town's safer neighbourhood team after working in the Hemel Hempstead equivalent for the past year.

Acting sergeant Alison started his career with Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2011 as a police community support officer, following in the footsteps of his father who served for 30 years on the force.

He applied to become a police officer and served on the emergency response team in Watford.

For the past four years acting sergeant Alison has chaired the St Albans and Harpenden Volunteer Police Cadets for young people between the ages of 14 to 18.

He said: "I am very fond of Harpenden having grown up here, it’s a lovely place to live and I’m delighted to now be safer neighbourhood team sergeant for the town.

"I really enjoy working within safer neighbourhood teams as this type of work enables you to become involved with the communities you serve and allows you to be out and about talking to people, which I really enjoy.

"I will be focusing on our local neighbourhood priorities of tackling speeding in areas of the town, occasional anti-social behaviour issues and preventing burglary by encouraging people to join neighbourhood watch and considering simple crime prevention methods.

"I would also welcome members of the public to get in touch with me if they are having any issues in their local areas that are causing concern. You can contact me via the police non-emergency number 101.

"Overall I am looking forward to building on the already very strong relationships we have in Harpenden to reduce crime further, bring those responsible for crime to justice and ensure the community plays an active role in helping police to keep Harpenden a safe place to live and work."