The police are well placed to cope with the annual summer influx of tourists to north Norfolk, the region’s new top cop, Superintendent Craig Miller, has said.
Supt Miller, 48, has been appointed the lead police officer for the North Norfolk District Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council areas, taking over from Nathan Clark, who retired from the force last month.
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He said that while North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth were different in terms of the communities and types of crimes that took place, the essence of the police’s response remained the same across the patches.
Supt Miller said: “Tourism has a positive impact on the area, in terms of what it brings, but in some places, it does provide some additional challenges.
“But we’ve got resourcing at the right levels and we aim to make sure we’ve got additional officers on at the right times to meet demands.”
Supt Miller worked at Gorleston and Great Yarmouth police stations for 11 years from 2006, first as a sergeant and then as an inspector.
Among his past positions has been as the chief inspector of rural policing, during which time he worked to improve the constabulary’s response to rural crime.
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This included hare coursing, heating oil theft, and other crimes which are targeted towards the farming community.
Supt Miller said while north Norfolk - which has the highest average age in the country - gave it a different profile to Great Yarmouth, the force’s approach to policing remained the same.
He said: “The force has done a lot of relevant work on fraud targeted towards older people, in terms of improving people’s knowledge and understanding of what to look out for.
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“It is all about prevention, but when we identify those offences, they are investigated.
“While there are differences in terms of crime profiles and demographics, communities expect the same level of service from Norfolk Constabulary and that’s what we will deliver.”
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