Meet the new London Colney Safer Neighbourhood Sergeant

The new London Colney Neighbourhood Sergeant brings a wealth of experience having joined from the Watford Intervention team.

Sergeant Hannah McLaughlin took over the mantle from Sergeant Mark Williams in the London Colney, St Stephens and St Albans East Neighbourhood Policing Team in November, after Sgt Williams emigrated to Australia with his family.

Policing is in Sergeant McLaughlin’s blood as her sister works as a PC in Watford and her granddad was an officer in the Malaysian police. Her husband is also a firearms officers in Bedfordshire, and her sister’s boyfriend is an intervention officer.

 “I always wanted to be a police officer,” she recalls. The seed was sown at a police open day in Tring when she was aged just 9. She joined the police cadets aged 15, studied Criminology at the University of Kent and became a Special Constable (a volunteer police officer with the same powers as their full-time equivalents) in 2015.

She said: “I still really enjoy helping people, especially victims and I am passionate about supporting victims of domestic abuse. We can help safeguard them from further abuse and bring offenders before the courts for their actions, working with other specialist agencies.”

Sergeant McLaughlin was ready for a change of pace from intervention, where she and her colleagues responded to 999 calls. “I’m getting used to the idea of having more time to tackle problems, rather than overseeing several jobs as an Intervention Sergeant. The crimes and ASB levels in London Colney, St Stephens and St Albans East are very different to the issues we faced in Watford.

“We have just set our next set of neighbourhood priorities for the area.  We have a new priority of tackling anti-social behaviour outside Oaklands College because we have had numerous reports from the public about littering, smoking and public order offences causing concern for residents and other members of the public. We have kept the vehicle related anti-social behaviour issues at Starbucks as a neighbourhood priority as we continue to work with them and we are still progressing the parking, speeding and HGV nuisance priority. Please do continue to let us know your concerns so we can help.

She said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better team who come to work wanting to do a good job and help people every day.”

With a head start having been a Special Constable, Sergeant McLaughlin joined Hertfordshire as a regular police officer in 2017. She was based in Three Rivers and worked as a neighbourhood policing officer in Hemel. She was then promoted to Intervention Sergeant in Watford in 2021.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her young family, her dog and her friends. Her hobbies include keeping fit by going to the gym and running.

She added: “I would like to remind residents to make sure they securely lock their properties when they go out, use timer switches and consider investing in CCTV or doorbell cameras to help reduce the chance of being burgled. I’d also encourage residents to sign up to Herts Connected and follow us on Facebook.”

Sign up to Herts Connected to receive emails about local crimes, good news and crime prevention advice – select ‘police’ when you sign up.

Follow us @StAlbansPolice on Facebook.

Residents can report incidents online, speak to an operator in our Force Communications Room via our online web chat or call the non-emergency number 101.

If you want to report anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form.

To view the images relating to this press release, please visit the St Albans Facebook page.