The thriving town of Hessle, five miles west of Hull, now has a new Community Beat Manager.

PC Marc Skelton took up his post at the beginning of April 2021 and is looking forward to making a difference in the community and to increase the policing presence in the town.  Marc Skelton joins a team of PCSOs who work in the local community as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Team covering the South Hunsley Ward area.

We asked Marc about his policing career to date and about his new role, “I joined Humberside Police in 2002 and served six years on patrol, responding to urgent and emergency calls, I then went on to join CID at Beverley Police Station as a detective.  Following this I worked in the Protective Vulnerable People Unit (PVPu) at Brigg which was a very emotionally demanding role working with the most vulnerable people.

“After five years in that role I felt now that it was time to move back to work within the community, putting my uniform back on and going out to help our local residents to deal with their concerns and issues and to tackle crime in the very heart of the community.

“Having gained a huge amount of experience in the crime investigation side of policing and have a good knowledge of crime prevention, I am experienced in working with other agencies too which will really come into use as I will be regularly working with other local organisations.

“Preventing and solving community based crime is rarely just the role of the police and my experience in working with the local authority will benefit the local residents as we deal with the matters that are most important to them.

“I am really looking forward to putting my uniform back on and getting out on the beat to meet the local shop keepers, residents and businesses.  To me the most important thing about community policing is hearing first-hand about what problems they are facing and how we can best help to tackle the issues.

“I know from the local PCSOs who cover this area that some of the main issues facing local residents is the ongoing anti-social behaviour (ASB).  Often caused by a minority of young people who do not understand how their actions impact on the local community.  One area I am keen to address is the ongoing concerns of ASB on King George Playing Fields.

“Hessle is a very safe and great place to live.  The people are so friendly and with many people coming into the town to visit the shops and local bars and restaurants and of course to view the magnificent Humber Bridge they are all sure of a warm welcome.  I really want to support this community and make them feel as safe as possible.

“There have, in the past month, been four burglaries and two car stolen and five cases of criminal damage to properties.  Each of these crimes has a huge impact on the victims but it does show that there is not a high rate of crime and shows just how safe the local area.

“I often hear people say that ‘There’s no point in reporting anything to the police, they don’t have time to deal with it’.  That is simply not the case.  I want to make sure people report anything that they have problems with.  If we don’t know about it we simply cannot deal with it. 

“Both I and the local Neighbourhood team are out on regular patrol and I would say to anyone, come and talk to us.  We are all very approachable and will be happy to listen and talk about what issues people have. 

“If you have anything that is causing you a problem you can call us on 101 or via the social media messaging service.  We also have a local community police team email address which you can find on our local community page https://www.humberside.police.uk/teams/hessle please don’t keep your problems to yourself, report it and we will do whatever we can to resolve the issue.”

We wish Marc every success in his new role and are certain that his appointment will have a positive impact on the local community.