The new head of the police division responsible for fighting crime in Ilkley wants residents to keep in touch with officers about local issues, to help the force provide the highest standards of policing.

Chief Superintendent Ian Kennedy recently took up his new post as divisional commander of Airedale and North Bradford Police, and is now spending his time getting to know the area better.

His first priority, he says, is learning about the communities policed by the division, covering a wide area from Addingham in the north to Clayton, Bradford, in the south, and from Haworth and Keighley Moor in the west, to Shipley in the east.

The former head of West Yorkshire Police’s Professional Standards department, Ch Supt Kennedy wants these communities to tell police about the issues that concern them, so he can provide the best standard of policing possible.

But with the post-election prospect of cuts in public spending looming, he admits one of his priorities is likely to be making sure that frontline policing operations are delivered.

Any cuts are most likely to fall on backroom operations.

“During the last month I have enjoyed learning about this area and I’m very pleased to be here,” he said.

“My initial priority is to find out about the communities in this area, to find out what’s important to them and to ensure that the policing we’re delivering meets their needs. I’m very pleased to learn that neighbourhood police has become embedded and Inspector Sanderson and her team are all engaged with the local community, but I think that can still be improved upon.”

A married 51-year-old with two school age children, Ch Supt Kennedy, originally from Northern Ireland, has been a police officer for 28 years. He joined Lancashire Constabulary in 1982, and has spent time working in major crime investigation.

In 2004 he transferred to West Yorkshire to take up a post at the headquarters in Wakefield in the professional standards department, dealing with public complaints ands standards of policing. He worked for the force’s special branch, before returning to professional standards as head of the department.

He recently took over the post of divisional commander of the Airedale and North Bradford division.

As a keen long distance runner, he recently took part in the Belfast Marathon, and plans to run the Edinburgh Marathon on May 26.

Ch Supt Kennedy is keen to encourage more people to attend local PACT – Police and Community Together – meetings, which give residents a chance to discuss and highlight local issues with neighbourhood policing officers.

The next Ilkley PACT meeting is on May 20, at Christchurch, The Grove, starting at 7pm.

“It would be good if people come along to that, as the more people who talk to us, the more we can understand their issues and how we can try to deal with those on their behalf, or work with them,” said Ch Supt Kennedy.

“Hopefully we can enegage in a dialogue so that I’m able to ensure that the policing service we’re delivering is the best possible local service for Ilkley.”

Although he welcomes the fact that the Ilkley area has low crime, he says this does not mean that it is not important to the division, and he pledged that police will continue to work to reduce crime further.

He urges residents to also play a part by taking some simple steps towards crime prevention – such as making sure property is not left on display in parked cars.

Ch Supt Kennedy also stressed that residents can get through to Ilkley Police Station directly by calling (01274) 475301, despite the NPT number having a Bradford code.