Hounslow Gets New Borough Commander

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New police chief is former RAF-man and anti-burglary expert

A new Borough Commander has been announced for Hounslow, to replace Commander David Bilson, who will shortly leave his post after five years in the borough.

Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Rusling will assume command from April 16th 2012.

The new police chief was described as a" hugely experienced detective" who also has an outstanding record for his service to the country with the RAF.

He has been working in the borough for the past two months. He is a former head of the Met's anti-burglary task force, Operation Bumblebee.

Commander Bilson is due to retire in September, and will spend the next few months at headquarters working on a short-term project. He had replaced Ali Dizaei in July 2007. Originally from west London, he joined the MPS in 1978.

In a statement today he thanked local community groups who had supported the police during his five years in the Borough.

He also pointed out that the during the riots last August, there were very few problems in Hounslow, which proved how strong the support was from the communities, especially in keeping young people safe on those nights.

Commander Bilson said that when he arrived, he had made a commitment to focus on crime and disorder reduction and do that in partnership with the local community. Working together, they had seen a reduction in crime and brought offenders to justice.

"Our work with Hounslow Council has delivered excellent CCTV protection, and new dedicated teams of both police and community safety staff. To protect our young people from harm we have established a framework for joint working that reduced both serious violence and the number of gangs visible in the town centres. We have improved our response against violence and domestic, race and other hate crime to protect the especially vulnerable"

However, he added, that like many London boroughs, there were still significant crime challenges to tackle this year, especially in reducing burglary, and protecting young and other vulnerable people from violence.

"I would like to thank the many people from community groups across the borough who continue to volunteer their time to support both the policing of Hounslow and also advising me personally. Serving the citizens of Hounslow for the last five years has been the greatest privilege and achievement of my career.

But my greatest thanks and appreciation goes to the excellent men and women I lead, who are the police officers, staff, volunteers and cadets who continue to work for a Safer Hounslow" he added .

April 5, 2012