THE POLICE force has appointed a new assistant chief constable, who has been in charge of the force's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, August 3, Thames Valley Police appointed assistant chief constable (ACC) Christian Bunt to be the new temporary ACC of local policing.

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He has taken over the role from ACC Chris Ward, who is retiring.

ACC Bunt joined Thames Valley Police in 2002 and has worked much of his career in a wide range of local policing roles, such as being a local police area commander for Wokingham.

He has also took on various commanding roles, leading some of the police force's largest events and operations.

His most significant role is being in charge of Thames Valley Police's response to Covid-19 in Berkshire.

The assistant chief constable role oversees oversees all aspects of local policing including emergency response, investigation and neighbourhood policing teams.

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ACC Christian Bunt said: “Thames Valley Police has been through some significant challenges over the last twelve months and I have been hugely impressed with how Local Policing has responded and supported our communities through this.

“I am really excited by the opportunities to take Local Policing to the next level and looking at a number of areas where we can make further positive steps in the service we deliver to our local communities. This includes building on our already very strong neighbourhood policing, providing a timely response when the public need us most and visible policing to provide reassurance and deter crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Where crime does occur I want us to effectively investigate and provide a good service to the victim. I also want to ensure we are proactively tackling those that cause most harm in our communities. We will work with our partner agencies to achieve this but where there is a need for proactive enforcement operations that is the role of the police and a style of policing that I like to see”.