Ref. 25542-66RICHARD Rowland has returned to his home town of Swindon after being promoted to the role of Superintendent Operations with Swindon Police.

He was born in the town, but has spent most of his 23 years with the Wiltshire Constabulary in other areas, including Devizes and North and West Wiltshire.

Supt Rowland, 44, says his first priority is to reduce the demands on police officers by tackling the problems that cause the crimes to stop them happening.

He praised the Evening Advertiser backed Swindon Drugs Hotline, which helped give information for raids across the town, as a good example. "This helped our recent operation to catch drug dealers and hopefully the culprits will go to prison," he said.

"My priority is to save officers' time by cutting down on procedures we don't need too. Officers are asked to go and see people for simple reports on stolen goods, for example, when they could be dealt with quickly on the phone and often the person only wants a number for insurance purposes.

"We need to cut down on time in this way. We are also employing more civilians to interview prisoners."

Supt Rowland is married with three children aged, six, 11 and 15.

New inspectors have also taken up posts in Swindon following a management shake-up.

They are Bill Halsley, who moves from East Sector to Central Sector, Graham Devine, who will police the East Sector and Ian Bamber, who will cover the West Sector.