One of the safest places to live in the country. That’s the view of Marlborough by its latest police recruit, Sergeant Vince Logue, who has taken on the role of being in charge of the neighbourhood policing team.
He agrees with the comment made by Wiltshire chief constable Brian Moore. “He’s probably right that it is probably the safest place on earth,” he says.
“There is usually a minority of people in any community – an absolutely handful – who commit the majority of offences. And we deal with them as effectively as we can.
“The detection rate for Marlborough and Pewsey is the highest for the whole of Wiltshire in regard to violent crime. It’s an extremely good picture that’s down to the current inspector in charge, Ron Peach, and his predecessor Andy Noble.”
Sergeant Logue, 40, a softly-spoken Irishman from Derry who has taken over following the retirement of Sergeant Ben Braine after 32 years in the Wiltshire force, has himself spent nine years on patrol in the county.
His career began as a security officer and store detective in London before becoming the first member of his family to join the police. Then, after serving eight years in another force, he transferred to Wiltshire.
A friend had invited him to the county for a weekend break and the countryside became an immediate attraction. “I thought it was a lovely place and decided that I wanted to transfer to the Wiltshire force,” he explained.
“I feel very comfortable here. Wiltshire as a whole is a lovely place to live – and Marlborough is one of the nicest bits of the county.”
As promotions followed, he has served in Warminster, Chippenham, Melksham and Salisbury, spending the past two years with the response team covering Devizes, Marlborough and Pewsey.
A single father, he lives with his two daughters near Devizes.
“There are no particular problems in the Marlborough area that concern us,” he adds. “There are not that many calls here for police help as there are in Trowbridge and Chippenham. Marlborough certainly isn’t as bad as some other places.”
But he is in no way complacent. His team keep a check on shoplifting and anti-social behaviour by teenagers, especially when they cause noise and nuisance late at night.
“The chief constable and the police authority do have a strategic plan for Wiltshire,” he points out. “Most of that is based around violence and violent crime and the management of offenders.”
“Serious crime incidences do come up from time to time, but there is not specific trend in this area.”