New police chief’s community pledge

New Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Chris Hardern has been welcomed back to Calderdale after spending ten years in other roles across West Yorkshire Police.

He takes over from Chief Supt Alan Ford who has moved to the regional programme team.

Chief Supt Hardern said: “I care about the communities I serve and will strive to do the best job that I can, but I need everyone’s help and support.

“I am determined that we build upon the division’s success by making continual improvements to people’s quality of life. We can do that at every level and in every part of the organisation.

“The priorities for my staff are very clear. They should think about how to reduce crime, catch criminals, deliver a service to be proud of and increase confidence in policing in everything they do. And my job is to make sure we continue to do it right and to identify what can be done better.”

Chief Supt Hardern has previously been in charge of the operations support division and Kirklees division.