Watford welcomes new Chief Inspector

The Watford Community Safety Partnership (CSP) has welcomed a new Chief Inspector, Andy Wiseman, who began the role last week.

He takes the reins from the borough’s former Chief Inspector Diane Whiteside, who has been promoted within the force.

Andy’s policing career started at Watford twenty-three years ago, when he first joined Hertfordshire Constabulary as a Special Constable.

He became a regular officer in 2003 and has undertaken a number of roles at Watford in the intervening years, making his way up the ranks to Chief Inspector.

He has had a varied career, including seven years on Intervention (the 999 response teams), as well as working on the Tactical Team at Watford, running investigation teams as a Detective Sergeant at Watford and Three Rivers, custody sergeant and has also been the force’s Resource Management Inspector.

Andy joins Watford having enjoyed the last four years working as a Safer Neighbourhood Team Inspector in St Albans.

Andy said: “I have very fond memories of my time as a Special Constable, based at Shady Lane in Watford. I found volunteering as a police officer immensely rewarding and I learnt a whole range of life skills which have stayed with me ever since. I knew very quickly that policing was the career for me.

“My passion is still very much neighbourhood policing, which I firmly believe the public want to see more of. It’s important to me that we know our communities and that they know us. Even in 2023, the basic idea that the police are the public and the public are the police, still underpins everything we do. Successful policing relies on the public working with us and sharing information.

“I am particularly looking forward to building new relationships with communities and partner agencies. My initial priorities include tackling anti-social behaviour hotspots and street robberies. Everyone has the right to live unaffected by crime and anti-social behaviour and this is something I feel very strongly about. I am passionate about my team using their policing powers to improve the lives of residents in Watford. We are here to help people, and that is my focus.”

Andy was born in Watford and grew up on the Tudor estate. He attended Knutsford primary school in North Watford and Queen’s secondary school in Bushey.

In his spare time Andy is the secretary of the Hertfordshire Police Historical Society, and in 2017 wrote a book on the History of Police Stations in Hertfordshire, which was published by The History Press. He is also a Cub Scout leader and enjoys walking in Scotland. In 2022 he completed a master’s degree in Public Service Management through the University of Hertfordshire.    

You can let Andy and his team know what you think they should be concentrating on as a policing priority in Watford via our feedback tool, echo. Tell us what you think should be top of the list – your thoughts will be used to help plan future initiatives and campaigns, and also to inform their patrol plans.

You can submit your thoughts by filling out the simple form at bit.ly/police-watford. All feedback is anonymous, so please ensure that you are as specific as possible if you are referring to certain areas or locations.

You can also follow Watford’s local policing teams on Facebook (search ‘Watford Police’) and on Twitter @WatfordPolice.