New Merseyside Police chief: "Performance will improve"
That's despite having to make £31million in savings over the next five years
Merseyside's new Police Chief has vowed to improve performance, despite having to make £31million in savings over the next four to five years.
Rob Carden takes charge for the first time today (1 September) following the retirement of Serena Kennedy.
Mr Carden started his career with Merseyside Police in 1992, before moving to Cumbria Police where eventually became Chief of Police.
He said:
"Very proud, honoured to have this opportunity. It's really finishing my career where it started in 1992.
"From a selfish perspective I'm a stakeholder and I need Merseyside Police to do well, but from a professional perspective, I'm determined to make it safer and do better - even though it's a great force now, obviously."
His successor led the force through some of the region's most shocking crimes, including the tragic murders of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Ashley Dale and Sam Rimmer in the same week in August 2022, the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar in Southport, the bombing at Liverpool Women's Hospital and the Liverpool Parade incident.
Mr Carden said:
"You never really know when something like that is going to come, it's unplanned, you've got to respond to it.
"I looked from afar with admiration at the way Merseyside Police dealt with it and how Merseyside Police and wider partners and stakeholders and communities came together. It's just the most unimaginable tragedies.
"The force did extremely well in very, very difficult circumstances"
"We supported the force from Cumbria in what ways we could and I tried to provide more resources. I thought the force did extremely well in very, very difficult circumstances.
"I think from this position forward, it's just to make sure that if there are any lessons to learn or anything more we can do, I've got to take those and build on them and make sure that police colleagues and staff who were involved in those incidents, and will be involved in big operations in the future have got the equipment, the support, the training and the leadership we need."
During his first spell with Merseyside Police, Chief Constable Carden was Gold Commander for the repatriation of British nationals in Wuhan Province, China, to Arrowe Park Hospital.
He also managed Merseyside's response to the COVID pandemic, led the security operation for the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Merseyside, was Gold Command for the Grand National on four occasion, and was Counter Terrorism Commander following the terrorist incident at Liverpool Women's Hospital.
CC Carden said:
"The first part for me is the direction and the vision and I base it on what I call the four Cs. The first thing is contempt for criminality. That's not just serious and organised crime, that's low-level crime and anti-social behaviour - if you leave it untouched, it grows like a weed, so you've got to be agile in all of those areas.
"The other thing is compassion for victims. If you've lost your compassion as a police officer or a member of police staff, you're not at the level frankly.
"Community focus is the third C. You've got to be responsive to what the public wants and that brings in a question of neighbourhood policing, (which is) really important to me, that's the way we're going to improve public trust and confidence.
"Finally, care for colleagues. If you can't look after your own and develop, support and inspire them to do their job and make it easier for them, you can't expect to get the very best from your policing operation and you're going to minimise the chances of increasing public safety in Merseyside.
"I guarantee performance will improve"
"They're the sort of principles I bring with me. There's a lot of change and initiatives that have helped that to happen. I'm going to keep a fairly open mind at the moment, I want to hear what leaders and colleagues say and stakeholders, particularly Emily Spurrell, Police and Crime Commissioner, who has given me this opportunity which I'm very grateful for.
"The backdrop to all this is we've got to save £31million in four to five years so trying to improve performance, taking all that money out, it's inevitable we're going to have to look at developing a sustainable policing model so that change is inevitable.
"I'm determined to ensure that the policing performance and capability does not diminish, I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I'm not saying it's not going to be a challenge, it really will be. I haven't got all the answers, I've got lots of them, but I know where to go to get them.
"I've got police staff, police officers, stakeholders, partners, the Police and Crime Commissioner, there's lots of people that need to contribute to that debate and see where we go but we will find the answers. I guarantee performance will improve.
"An area where that will improve, it's already good in Merseyside but an area I do need to focus on, I describe it as excellence in the basics. The areas of call handling, response to calls, and quality of investigation. I'm very focused in those areas, I know there needs to be improvements there and I'll make sure they happen."
CC Carden was selected as the Police and Crime Commissioner's preferred choice, which was approved by the region's Police and Crime Panel.
Emily Spurrell said:
"It's a bit bittersweet. I am sorry to see Serena go, I think she's been a very good and effective Chief Constable but I am looking forward to Rob coming in.
"He's obviously got lots of experience, he's very competent, he knows Merseyside very well, so I think he's going to come in and make sure that we are gong to be driving forward even more and in the best position to keep our communities safe."
CC Carden will face the public for the first time later this month, in a public scrutiny meeting.