New Chief Inspector leads St Albans district policing team

Partnership working is key to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour according to the new St Albans district Chief Inspector, who took over the role last month from Chief Inspector Ady Lysak.

St Albans district Chief Inspector Martin Turpin, who has 24 years’ experience in policing, said: “Being highly visible, partnership working and officers engaging with their communities is vital in helping us reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.  We need people to talk to us about issues they are experiencing so we can help.

“Another key area for us to work on is focusing on improving safety for women and girls, something we are prioritising as a Force. We will soon be launching a new proactive initiative in St Albans, to provide enhanced safety to women and girls within the night-time economy.  We also continue to see an issue with thefts from motor vehicles – and frustratingly, many of these could be prevented by owners simply removing personal, and sometimes valuable, items and securely locking their cars.”

Chief Inspector Turpin grew up in Hertfordshire and has worked across several departments including professional standards, intelligence, workforce development, the Force Communications Room (who take 999 and 101 calls) as well as investigative roles and safer neighbourhood team roles.

As the district Chief Inspector, he leads around 150 officers and staff, across three Safer Neighbourhood teams (St Albans, Harpenden and London Colney), the Local Crime Unit (who deal with a range of criminal investigations), five Intervention/Response teams (who respond to both emergency and non-emergency incidents), the Community Safety Unit, proactive Scorpion Team and volunteers - including Special Constables (volunteers with full police powers).

He said: “I’m really pleased to take on this role. I will continue to build upon the excellent work to date to reduce crime and reoffending and safeguard those who are vulnerable within our communities - ensuring St Albans district remains a safe place to live, work and visit.

“I’d like my teams to be further involved in activities for young people through schools and colleges so that they have a positive relationship with the police through sport or the police cadets.  It’s really important for young people to see positive role models and make the right decisions in their lives.”

During his first week in post last month, he commented: “I was immediately impressed with the dedication of police officers and police staff across the St Albans district.  They are determined to help people when they have been a victim of crime, in mental health crisis or dealing with ongoing anti-social behaviour. Whatever the issue, my officers are here to help.”

He added: “With the unseasonal weather, it is hard to believe that the clocks go back next month but unfortunately that is when we tend to see an increase in burglaries.  We have robust plans in place to try and prevent burglaries as no-one wants to be a victim.  We also increase overt and covert police patrols and the safer neighbourhood teams carry out a number of crime prevention events across the district.  A lot of the crime prevention advice is simple – securely lock windows and doors, consider investing in CCTV or doorbell cameras and use timer switches when you are not at home.  

“Another way you can help reduce crime is to act on the crime prevention advice in our OWL (Online Watch Link) (opens in a new window) or download the ‘crime alerts’ app.  We also have great Facebook and Twitter accounts in St Albans with messages about what we are doing –follow us @StAlbansPolice. If there is something you feel we need to focus on, please submit your views via our community messaging platform echo harpenden (opens in a new window), ECHO London Colney (opens in a new window)or Echo St Albans (opens in a new window).”

After completing his degree, CI Turpin trained to be an accountant in London but he didn’t enjoy the job.  He knew he wanted something more rewarding and so joined the police in 1999.  He said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my policing career and have had some amazing experiences.”

Highlights of his career to date include the responsibility for the constabulary’s initial response to a terrorist incident and he was on duty as a Safer Neighbourhood Inspector when the Olympic torch came into Hertfordshire and the visit of the late Queen. 

He enjoys being outdoors and travelling and has recently visited Vietnam and Cambodia.  He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Everest base camp. He has also completed an impressive 15 marathons and several ultra-marathons (a selection of 50- and 100-mile running races over 24 or 30 hours). 

If a crime is in progress, call 999.  You can also report online, speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat or call the non-emergency number 101 (opens in a new window).  Alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 (opens in a new window) or via their untraceable online form (opens in a new window).