Chief Inspector is no stranger to local area

Craigavon’s new Chief Inspector Paul Reid says he is ‘really excited’ about returning as an area commander and has plans to bring a new ‘synergy’ to the area.
Chief Inspector Paul Reid.Chief Inspector Paul Reid.
Chief Inspector Paul Reid.

The son of a policeman from Tyrone, CI Reid is no stranger to the Craigavon area, having served as an inspector in Brownlow in 2004/05 and in Portadown from 2005/06.

Initially he had no plans to join the police but instead worked as a naval architect at the shipyard in Belfast before travelling to the USA for five years.

Having joined the police in the late 80s, CI Reid had a career throughout Northern Ireland and at HQ and was also in the Mobile Support Unit.

“I have had my Drumcrees,” said Mr Reid. Returning to HQ he worked on a variety of strategic platforms and was an operations manager for the G8 in Fermanagh.

“I am really excited to be back in Lurgan,” he added, “I have a good set of relationships already in place and a really good team around me.”

When asked what his priorities and focus will be as he begins his new role, Mr Reid said: “The performance here has been good. I am standing on the shoulders of giants in terms of the quality of work, the manner in which crime is being managed and all the trajectories are downwards in terms of crime. Approval rates are high. There is good confidence and there are good relationships.

“I am different from Anthony (Chief Inspector McNally) but we have a very similar outlook in terms of what we are about.

“I joined the police to make a difference,” said the new chief. “It’s about improving the quality of life for the people who live and work in Craigavon. The challenge is how I can create an environment through the deployment of police and allow all the other agencies and representatives from the various communities to do their bit.

“When I worked in Brownlow it was about giving the ownership back to the people who lived there. It is about working with all the statutory agencies and all the various community groups, how can we together be greater than the sum of the parts. I am a great believer in synergy. I am a fan of the organic approach to things because things need to be sustainable. I am not keen on little initiatives here, little short-term things.

If something is worth doing it is worth doing well but it is also about the medium and long term. There is no point in doing something for the sake of it. The trick is getting the most bang for your buck,” he said.

Mr Reid recently ran a burglary drop-in centre for Councillors to explain what the problems are, what the 
police are doing about them and what others can do for themselves.