A new chief inspector has been appointed to manage the St Albans’ district policing teams.

Chief inspector Shane O’Neill will oversee the Safer Neighbourhood teams, the local crime unit and intervention teams, alongside the community safety unit and managing volunteers and special constables.

Since joining Hertfordshire Constabulary as a PC in 1988 CI O’Neill has climbed the ranks whilst working in custody, child protection and professional standards roles before taking up his new post.

The 50-year-old said he was delighted to be to returning to a frontline policing role.

He said: “I’m looking forward to dealing directly with the public, working with them and our range of partners to help resolve issues for them, so that the St Albans district is an even safer place to be.

“I want to make sure officers are highly visible, whether in police vehicles, on bikes or on foot.

"My focus will be keeping people safe, catching criminals and reducing crime.”

He added: “I’d also like to encourage residents to sign up to Neighbourhood Watch to help reduce crime – you can just be a member and receive emails about crimes in your local area or take a more active part.”

CI O’Neill who is married to a Hertfordshire officer and has two sons also has strong family links to the area as his Irish parents were married in St Albans and his wife went to Beaumont School.