There’s a New Sheriff in Town

The island’s new Chief Constable, Russ Foster KPM, has been sworn into the role at a ceremony at Douglas Courthouse.

Mr Foster KPM joins the island from West Yorkshire Police where he has served for the last four years as Deputy Chief Constable.

With 30 years policing experience, Mr Foster has a balanced career profile serving in both uniform and CID. He has also has been a Chief Officer for the last ten years and has previously had responsibility for Counter Terrorism Policing in the North East of England, the Regional Organised Crime Unit and Regional Scientific Support Services for the four forces in the Yorkshire and Humber Region, as well as Specialist Crime for West Yorkshire Police.

He said: ‘I have had the privilege of working extremely closely with my predecessor, Chief Constable Gary Roberts since the beginning of February this year to facilitate a handover of responsibilities and ensure a seamless transition of leadership – I have been familiarising myself with the unique context of the island and gaining an understanding of the current and future challenges for policing.

‘The island enjoys comparatively low crime rates, the severity of which in terms of harm is also usually low. However, I am certainly not complacent and my ambition is to ensure that the Isle of Man continues to be the safest island in the British Isles and I will be intensifying efforts to protect vulnerable people, reduce harm in our communities and tackle criminality as a priority.

‘There will be a real focus to prevent violence being perpetrated against women and girls, particularly in respect of domestic abuse and we will be tackling the drug dealers who are exploiting children and vulnerable adults. I am acutely aware that minor crimes and anti-social behaviour can have a massive impact on the quality of people’s lives and our research indicates that these crimes are committed by a few individuals who are mainly young people. I am conscious of not unnecessarily criminalising these young people and will explore ways to work with our partners and engage early to divert them away from committing offences and anti-social behaviour.

‘I am absolutely committed to a community style of policing and see this as the cornerstone to the service we provide to the public. Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams, will be visible, accessible and responsive and will work with local communities and other partners to resolve issues which matter to the people we serve. We are already well engaged in our communities both physically and virtually, but I want to develop this further with the concept of ‘We asked, You Said, We Did’ to address any concerns raised locally.’

Chief Constable Russ Foster KPM, has been sworn into the role at a ceremony at the Courts of Justice in Douglas