Introducing new St Albans Neighbourhood Inspector

Inspector Paul Caro was delighted to be offered the position of Safer Neighbourhood Inspector for the St Albans district, as former Inspector Andy Wiseman becomes the new Watford Chief Inspector.

He is no stranger to the St Albans district having previously been the St Albans Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) Sergeant and prior to starting his new role last week he was an Intervention Inspector covering both St Albans and Dacorum.

He reports to Chief Inspector Ricky Bartlett and is responsible for the St Albans, Harpenden and London Colney Safer Neighbourhood Teams, which are made up of PCs and PCSOs led by Sergeants Alex Winning (St Albans), Mark Essam (Harpenden) and Mark Williams (London Colney).

He said: “I joined the job to make a positive difference and to help the most vulnerable.  That ambition hasn’t changed and I’m especially keen to make sure, in this role, that my officers also go above and beyond to protect the safety of women and girls. 

“Whilst public confidence in policing is very much in the spotlight at the moment, I feel privileged to be leading three safer neighbourhood teams with dedicated and professional officers. They come to work to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and help vulnerable people in our communities and make that positive difference. 

“This role is very much a partnership approach dealing with longer-term issues with St Albans City and District Council and other partners and charities, so very different to my previous intervention role managing our response to 999 calls.”

A lot of the jobs his team were dealing with included high risk missing people, people in mental health crisis and suicides.  He recently successfully found a man safe and well after being bundled into a car against his will following a suspected drugs dispute.  But he recalls his career highlight was arresting a rogue trader in Brookmans Park who was trying to steal tens of thousands of pounds in life savings from a 90-year-old man.

Paul joined Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2007 having gone to Beaumont and Verulam Schools. “I’m lucky that I know the area really well and I care about this district.” He was promoted to Sergeant in 2013 having received the highest score in the law and procedure exam in the county!

He said: “Whilst crime is fairly low in St Albans – prevention is best.  The St Albans district is not immune to burglaries so make sure you securely lock your home, use timer switches and consider investing in CCTV or doorbell cameras to deter opportunist burglars.  We continue to see thefts from motor vehicles and I cannot stress enough – please remove all valuables from your vehicle, including coats, securely lock your vehicle and report any suspicious behaviour around vehicles.”

He added: “I’d encourage residents to sign up OWL (Online Watch Link) to receive local messages about crime, scams and missing people at OWL (Opens in a new window)  or download the ‘OWL crime alerts’ app to receive instant notifications.”