SOMERSET has a new Area Commander following the retirement of Chief Superintendent Daimon Tilley over the summer.

Chief Superintendent Ian Wylie took up the post last week, bringing with him 20 years of policing experience.

He joined Kent Police in 1995 where he served until he transferred to Avon and Somerset Constabulary in August 2002, following promotion to the rank of Inspector.

In October 2007, he rose to Superintendent and was posted to Bristol where he held a range of portfolios including violent crime reduction, strategic partnership working across a range of areas and responsibility for policing of events across the city.

In November 2011, he became head of the Professional Standards Department at police HQ and held that role until returning, as Superintendent, to Somerset in 2013.

Most recently, he has been leading the cultural change programme for the force.

Mr Wylie said: “I am delighted to come back to Somerset as the Area Commander. It is a wonderful place and my mission is to ensure that everyone living, working and visiting the area is safe and, equally importantly, they feel safe.

“I expect my staff and officers to always be professional, friendly and interested when dealing with issues and to do so in a timely fashion.”

He said Somerset has its own challenges including crime, health and education issues: “I will ensure we continue to develop essential partnership working across with local authorities, partner agencies and other organisations ... to tackle these issues with an aim to improve quality of life and wellbeing for all.”

He said that public sector budgets were under considerable pressure: “We will strive to minimise the impact on the front-line as much as possible and to try and manage our resources effectively to ensure they are where they are needed most.

“I am also going to work hard to reduce demand on services through implementing further effective crime prevention work and by working with partners, communities and local businesses to ‘design-out issues’ and deal with problems in a holistic fashion wherever possible, tackling root causes rather than symptoms.”