The Welwyn Hatfield Community Safety Partnership (CSP) has welcomed its new Chief Inspector, Tannis Perks.

 

Tannis started her career as a Special Constable in 1988 before joining as a regular in 1990 and climbing up the ranks to become a Chief Inspector.

 

CI Perks has joined the team at Welwyn Hatfield and now manages the borough’s policing teams.

 

Previously she has been Chief Inspector for Stevenage and before then she was Chief Inspector for Hertsmere. Both for 18 months each.

 

She spent her early years in North Herts as a uniformed Police Constable and then trained to be a Detective Constable.

 

She has worked in a variety of detective roles including serious and organised crime, tackling organised gangs, and the Child Protection Unit.

 

Tannis has also been involved in several high profile cases including the conviction of ‘the Rolex robbers’ in Hoddesdon in 2002 – where two men killed the wife of a millionaire and attempted to murder her son and his girlfriend. 

 

Talking about her career to date Tannis said: “I always wanted to join the police and left school at 16 to do so. After nearly 28 years’ service, I still enjoy coming to work every day and I wouldn’t want to do any other job.

 

“Over the years it has been hard seeing people at their most vulnerable, but despite the circumstances, part of the job is to help people through difficult situations and it is rewarding when you know you have achieved that. It is also about dealing with prolific or persistent criminals and ensuring we do our best to keep the public free from crime.”  

 

Tannis continued: “Welwyn Hatfield  is a diverse area,  comprising two of Hertfordshire’s busiest towns and rural villages. It is a great place to live and work and I am looking forward to getting to know the community and key local partner agencies extremely well.

 

“From a policing perspective, Welwyn Hatfield has relatively low levels of crime, but it does have challenging issues.  Two main priorities will be to continue to take a tough stance on anti-social behaviour (ASB) and drug related crime.  I am impressed by the work policing teams have already been undertaking in these areas.

 

“For ASB we will continue to take a no nonsense approach and will also be working closely with parents of young people involved and I look forward to building further on this alongside Welwyn Hatfield Council. 

 

“During my career I have seen the misery drugs use can cause, as well as the crime and disorder it can bring to an area, and sadly Welwyn Hatfield is no different. More recently, Hatfield has experienced drug related offences fuelled by offenders coming from London and the team has had great success in disrupting this criminality through arrests, drug seizure and convictions. I am determined that we will continue to come down hard on those responsible for these offences to continue to drive drugs out of Welwyn Hatfield.

 

“I have a fantastic team of police officers and staff – including Intervention officers (dealing with emergencies and often the first response to the public), Safer Neighbourhood Teams, a Local Crime Unit, Special Constables, Police Cadets and a team of police volunteers; each of them plays an equally important role in policing the borough. 

 

“To help police our communities, we also need residents to do their bit by reporting crime and anti-social behaviour via the non-emergency number 101 and being community spirited towards their neighbours by joining schemes like Neighbourhood Watch. If you have any queries or concerns about issues in your area, please do get in touch with me.There are also opportunities to attend a ‘ride-along’ with our police officers, so if this is of interest, we would be happy to facilitate this.”