Newport Business Club recently welcomed
the Chief Constable of Gwent Police Mike Tonge as their guest
speaker at the second event of the season.
Mr Tonge addressed a large audience and talked about his career and
the various roles he has undertaken. His police career started in
1978 when, at the age of 21, he joined Lancashire Constabulary and
went on to become Chief Superintendant.
After spending 21 years in Lancashire he was appointed Assistant
Chief Constable of Merseyside Police in 1999. Two years later he was
promoted to Deputy Chief Constable where he was responsible for,
amongst other things, the co-ordination of Force Performance,
Strategic Development, Community Relations and Support Networks.
Mr Tonge’s talk mainly concentrated on his current role of Chief
Constable which he was appointed to in April 2004. He spoke about
Gwent being the second best performing Force in the UK in detecting
crime, but one of the main challenges facing his Force was the
problem of anti-social behaviour and was not solely a problem for
the police but all members of the community. He emphasized that in
order to tackle the problem it is vital for a partnership approach.
The Chief Constable also talked about the importance of his Force
maintaining close community links and said that work is underway to
build upon these links and refocus on neighbourhood policing,
re-engaging with the public and improving reassurance.
Mr Tonge was pleased to announce that the Force had secured
additional funding from the Home Office for additional Police
Community Support Officers (giving a total of 86) who will work
alongside teams of officers dedicated to linking into local
communities.
After the talk, which was extremely well received, the Chief
Constable took numerous questions from the audience on a range of
issues. One member of the Newport Business Club commented “It was a
relaxed and enjoyable evening and the Chief Constable gave an
interesting and informative overview of his Force and the challenges
that lie ahead.
Newport Business Club is supported by Harding Evans Solicitors,
Haines Watts, Lloyds TSB and the University of Wales, Newport.
