Calderdale’s new police chief has pledged to keep the community at the heart of local policing.
New Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Chris Hardern has been welcomed back to Calderdale after spending ten years in other roles across the Force.
As he takes on his “dream job”, Chf Supt Hardern said he was looking forward to serving the people of Calderdale.
“Policing is like working in an extended family. There are the police, partner agencies and the public all working together to make Calderdale a safer place for us all. 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,” he said.
“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. Delivering the best possible service to the public is and should be what we all come to work to do.”
He has previously been in charge of the Operations Support Division and Kirklees Division.
Chf Supt Hardern, who is originally from Penzance, studied Agriculture at Leeds University, before joining the Army (Royal Engineers) in 1984. After training at Sandhurst, he had postings in Kent, Germany and Hampshire, before leaving the Army to join West Yorkshire Police in 1987.
He spent six years working in Leeds, initially in Chapeltown and then as a Sergeant at Holbeck, before moving to Brighouse and Sowerby Bridge.
In 1994, he spent 18 months in Probationer Training and is delighted to see a number of his former students in Calderdale.
In 1996, he was promoted to Patrol Inspector at Halifax and remained in Calderdale as Acting and then Substantive Chief Inspector for Community Safety.
Chf Supt Hardern said: “It is ten years since I left the division and I am absolutely delighted to be back.
“Some years ago I secured nearly one million pounds in funding for various projects around burglary, vehicle crime and CCTV so I am very interested in seeing how the partnerships have developed.”
Since 2001, Chf Supt Hardern has worked at Kirklees, Killingbeck and Keighley as well as Corporate Development. In 2007, he was promoted to Chief Superintendent as Divisional Commander at Operations Support Division.
Chf Supt Hardern said: “A year ago I spent a six week secondment to PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) as their Head of Operations Support. I worked with their Public Order Training department to help develop West Yorkshire Police’s response to policing protest, while incorporating human rights legislation into our daily business.
“Many of these principles were used to deliver the successful policing of the EDL demonstrations in Leeds and Bradford.”
Chf Supt Hardern takes over from Chf Supt Alan Ford who has moved to the Regional Programme Team.
He is married with two children aged 24 and 19 and lives in Huddersfield.
Outside of work he also enjoys running, going to the gym, surfing in the summer and skiing in the winter.
