Community engagement is my key policing priority -CI Sarah Taylor

Chief Inspector Sarah Taylor is the new Local Area Commander for North West Edinburgh

First it would be remiss of me not to publicly thank my predecessor Chief Inspector David Happs who held the role here for three years and played a fundamental role in the development and delivery of our local policing plans.

I bring to my new role 20 years of policing experience having had the opportunity to serve in a variety of roles across different areas of Scotland. This has provided me with valuable experience in response policing, Major Crime and Public Protection arenas. For the last 16 months I was the DCI for Edinburgh’s Public Protection Unit, responsible for the protecting those at risk of harm. During this critical role I worked with key influential and committed partners and I am looking forward to approaching the key threats posed in the North West alongside my response and community teams.

A key priority for me over the short term is to engage as actively as possible with all areas of the community through a variety of channels to enable me to understand public concerns, build on existing joint working and seek the views where engagement and communication could be enhanced and improved. This means active listening and participation in tackling emerging community issues.

The key areas of concern identified by the public, businesses and organisations continue to be tackling disorder and anti-social behaviour, house breaking and acquisitive crime, reducing drug harm and targeting supply, and making our roads safer.

I am aware of significant partnership working ongoing in these areas and I will strive to build on our performance especially where there are emerging issues. Furthermore a key focus for myself will be protecting vulnerable people and maximising all opportunities to work with partner agencies to improve outcomes for individuals.

As a single force, I am extremely fortunate to be able to call upon specialist resource from across the country to assist in tackling these priorities and improving the safety and wellbeing of our local communities.

The forthcoming festive period will be a difficult period for many not least due to the impact of COVID 19 but also to those experiencing abuse whether it be emotional, physical or sexual. It is important to know that although you may feel isolated and vulnerable, you are not alone and that help and support is available.

I am also grateful for the support and co-operation that our policing teams have received this year and it is encouraging to see public confidence in policing continuing to grow.

This has been an extremely difficult year for all communities and as the year draws to a close the impact of COVID-19 remains at the forefront of public concern and supporting the public health objectives is just as critical as it was back in March.

On behalf of my officers in the North West may I wish everyone a very merry and safe festive period.

Chief Inspector Sarah Taylor is the new Local Area Commander for North West Edinburgh