Harlow

The district of Harlow is in the west of Essex. Founded as a new town, it is south of the River Stort on the border with Hertfordshire and London

It is approximately 20 miles north of London and 20 miles west of Chelmsford, with access to the M11 motorway.

The district has a population of around 93,300 people and covers approximately 11 square miles (30 square kilometres).

The District Commander role focuses on reducing and detecting crime in the district. They are also responsible for community policing.

Chief Inspector Paul Austin

Chief Inspector Paul Austin, District Commander for Harlow, says reducing violence in and around the town centre continues to be his top priority.

The team have been working to divert those intent on causing harm to our communities away from crime but for those not willing to engage, enforcement action has been taken.

“A very small number of people in Harlow are responsible for incidents of violence. The violence is often linked to the distribution of drugs and petty feuds that may escalate from social media.
“Unfortunately, that can spill out into public areas where we have seen higher profile incidents.
“The individuals tend to be involved in the distribution of drugs or have issues with drugs and alcohol. That’s why we’ve tried to get them involved in programmes with partners to give them opportunity to move away from crime.
“But where that hasn’t been successful, arrests have been made, they have been closely monitored by the Community Policing Team, and stopped and searched to discourage them from carrying knives.
“We don’t see a lot of crime moving in and out of Harlow – it’s the same local people committing crime locally.
“We know women and girls feel vulnerable when using the underpasses so we’re working with the council and funding has been secured to improve the CCTV. We’ve had great support as part of the Safer Harlow Partnership and from the Home Office to obtain that funding.
“We know the importance to the people of Harlow of seeing a policing presence around the town, so throughout the summer we will be strengthening our visibility, particularly on the 40 miles of cycle tracks around the town.
"The paths are really well used by local residents but there has been drug use on the cycle tracks, and we know criminals use them to move across town.”

Ch Insp Austin says he’s proud to serve Harlow and wants to encourage everyone locally to engage with officers.

“We will be visible, we are accessible and we’ll be holding regular events for the public to come and talk to us. I’m here to listen or people can contact their Community Policing Team.
“Harlow is a great place to live and work, and we’re working even harder to make it safer.”