Senior inspector returns to her neighbourhood policing roots in North Devon

A senior officer with 20 years’ of experience who first joined the force as a special constable has returned to her roots in neighbourhood policing to lead the neighbourhood teams at four North Devon police stations.

Inspector Joey Lester has been appointed as the new neighbourhood policing inspector for South Molton, Lynton, Ilfracombe and Braunton, with plans to hit the ground running to tackle a range of local issues.

She has outlined a list of priorities which includes tackling anti-social behaviour and persistent low-level offending in town centres, as well as taking on the supply and misuse of drugs and controlled substances.

She plans to reduce incidents of violence against women and girls, as well as build stronger relationships with more remote communities to tackle rural crime.

Inspector Lester aims to increase police visibility and engage more with the public in areas that don’t have a public police station front desk.

She wants to with the Road Casualty Reduction team and Vision Zero South West to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in North Devon.

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She said: “I believe strong relationships with our communities are key in achieving successful outcomes and I know the previous inspector – Rich Preston – worked tirelessly to build strong relationships between police and people living in North Devon.

“This is something I admire and am determined to continue.”

Joey Lester joined Devon & Cornwall Police in 2006 as a special constable. After three years volunteering her time to make a difference in her community, she became a full-fledged police officer and has spent time in many roles, including response, investigation, neighbourhood policing, specialist operations and learning and development.

She was a sergeant covering Ilfracombe and Braunton for a time and in more recent years, worked as an emergency response inspector covering North, East, West and Mid-Devon, including Exeter.

She continues to carry out her secondary role as a Public Order Public Safety Commander; responsible for organising the police response to planned public events and spontaneous disorder.

She is passionate about policing and is committed to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, bringing offenders to justice and safeguarding vulnerable people in the North Devon community.

Insp Lester added: “Having spent time in many different areas of policing, I have built a strong understanding of policing and the challenges we face and have adjusted our policing priorities to ensure policing is not only visible, but genuinely connected to the people it serves.

“We have three new police community support officers (PCSOs) joining the teams in Ilfracombe, Lynton and South Molton, which will help to provide a more visible policing presence and optimise opportunities to engage with people living locally.

She concluded: “When you see officers out on patrol, please stop and have a chat with them; tell them what’s going well and if there’s anything we might need to be aware of. 

“We are committed to keeping our communities safe and ask that any concerns are reported to us. As always, please call 999 in an emergency. Otherwise, information can be shared with us by filling in a form on our website or calling 101.”

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