Oxford's new police chief will take time to study the city's problems before announcing his crime-fighting priorities.

Supt David McWhirter takes over from Supt Cressida Dick as Thames Valley Police's Oxford Area Commander on Monday. He already has plans to talk to staff about what they see as major issues during his first four or five weeks in the job.

And the former head of the force's crime support department says he plans to build on what Supt Dick has developed in her four-and-a-half years as Area Commander, including fostering good community relationships and fighting drugs and burglary. Supt McWhirter said: "You can't really come up with a shopping list of challenges. I am going to build on work already done. "I want to make people feel safe in the community. That's what policing is all about, and we do that by being good at what we do - reducing crime, tackling it when it happens, and getting others to play their part.

"I will spend the first few weeks seeing what's already happening. I will not introduce radical change, certainly not in the early days. I need to see how things develop."

Supt McWhirter said: "I am looking forward to working in Oxford.

"It is a city that is recognised internationally and is a mix of all sections of society."

He said a problem was continued underfunding, but he realised that the same problem was faced by other public sector groups, particularly the NHS. Supt Dick said she had enjoyed her time at Oxford and praised the dedication of her staff.

Story date: Thursday 06 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.