Hertfordshire’s top police officer, Andy Prophet, has pledged to strengthen neighbourhood policing and increase officer visibility across town centres, high streets and parks.
By the end of this month, the force’s website will list “a named police officer for every community” – complete with contact details.
Chief inspectors will also be instructed to ensure that any officer not busy with paperwork is out on patrol, rather than remaining in the station.
Andy Prophet, who became Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Constabulary in January, says he wants officers to be “out walking on foot patrol more than they are in cars”.
On Wednesday (June 4), he shared his vision with members of the county council’s public health and community safety cabinet panel.
“I spent 10 years as a constable and a sergeant doing response and neighbourhood policing,” said the chief constable, who was formerly Deputy Chief Constable of Essex Police.
“So I see the crime and the harm that happens if you get that wrong.
“It is fundamentally what I believe policing is about at its heart – being visible being in communities dealing with problems at their grass-roots.
“So that is […] what I am working with my organisation – and hopefully with you as partners – to achieve.”
Chief Constable Prophet described the police’s role as to “prevent crime and solve crime”, while also looking after people, helping them, and supporting victims.
He told councillors: “We prevent crime and we solve crime.
“Keep it really simple. Back to basics. Every one of my people should be thinking about that. That is my expectation of them.”
He noted that while the constabulary receives around 100,000 crime reports a year, this is “a relatively low number” compared to the county’s 1.2 million population and when benchmarked nationally – but said it was still “too many”.
He highlighted ongoing work focused on “visibility and getting the basics of crime investigation right”.
He added that by targeting the right areas and the right individuals, he is confident they can reduce crime levels.
This includes concentrating police presence in known hotspots such as high streets, parks, and other common gathering places.
He also underlined the importance of strong community engagement to ensure the force does not miss critical information.
“We know where crime happens and, broadly speaking, we tend to know who does the crime, because we understand who the criminals are,” he said.
“So getting into the right places, targeting the right people – place and people – is the strategy that you will see, I hope, unfold in your communities.
“That means that comes as a consequence, because I will deploy the people where the bad things are happening. But it won’t be uniform.
“So you may well have in areas where we aren’t having crime problems, and we don’t know about crime problems, we might not deploy there as much and might not be as visible there.”
He stressed again that strong engagement with residents – “people who are reporting things” – is essential to avoid blind spots in intelligence.
The chief constable said Hertfordshire was a “fantastic county with a huge partnership potential” and described the constabulary as a “really strong organisation” with “lots of potential to improve”.
He also stated his ambition for the force to provide an “outstanding” service to the people of Hertfordshire.
Last year, an HMICFRS inspection rated the force as ‘good’ in one area, ‘adequate’ in three, ‘requires improvement’ in four, and ‘inadequate’ in one.
Chief Constable Prophet vowed to councillors that improvements will be made by the time inspectors return in autumn 2026.
He officially took up his role at Hertfordshire Constabulary on January 1, following a 29-year career with Essex Police.
Deborah is a Local Democracy Reporter covering news across Hertfordshire, with a strong focus on councils, local government and public policy. Her reporting includes county council decisions, council tax, spending pressures, legal and regulatory issues, healthcare stories including junior doctors, and community projects affecting local residents.
