A new sergeant who has joined the Oxhey Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) has said he is “looking forward” to start work.

James Stopford will be leading a number of PCs and police community support officers (PCSOs) covering the South Oxhey, Eastbury, Carpenders Park, Oxhey Hall, Moor Park and Hayling areas.  

Sergeant Stopford – who will be based at the police station on Oxhey Drive – first joined the constabulary in 2008, as a PCSO in Rickmansworth.

In 2013, he moved to Watford and served as a police constable covering the town centre.

During this time, he worked on both the intervention team (dealing with emergency 999 calls) and the SNT.

In August 2019, he took up a Sergeant’s post on the Welwyn Hatfield South SNT.

Sergeant Stopford, who grew up in South Oxhey, said: “I really like SNT policing because it provides us with an opportunity to problem-solve in the longer term. It’s very much like old-style policing, with bobbies on the beat who know everyone, talk to everyone and help local people with local problems.”

He takes the reins from his predecessor Sergeant Dan Amos, who has accepted a new role in the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Dog Unit.

Watford Observer: Dan Amos (photo Herts Constabulary)Dan Amos (photo Herts Constabulary)

“I’m looking forward to continuing Dan’s fantastic work in Oxhey, which is an area I have a lot of affection for,” Sergeant Stopford said.

“I went to school at Woodhall JMI and my first ever job was at the leisure centre on Gosforth Lane. I still have friends in the area and I’ve watched the progress of the area’s regeneration project with keen interest.

“There is so much more diversity here now and new housing means there are lots more young families moving into the area.”

Sergeant Amos joined the Oxhey SNT on April 1, 2019 and says he is leaving with “a heavy heart”.

“The past two years I’ve been in post have obviously been very different to one another, due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Dan, who first joined the police service in 2007.

“When we were plunged into lockdown for the first time last year, we continued to work closely with the community, engaging with people, increasing our foot patrols, visiting schools to talk to keyworker children and carrying out welfare checks on the vulnerable.

“We had brilliant support from our local councillors, our partners and the community as a whole. I am hugely proud of them, and my team, for how they responded to the demands of the pandemic. I am excited for my new role but I am leaving with a heavy heart. I will miss my colleagues immensely but I know they are in safe hands with James.

“I have previously worked on both intervention and firearms, but I have to say that working in SNT gave me a real sense of fulfilment. In intervention, we essentially only have time to put a sticking plaster on a situation, but in SNT we can take that plaster off, treat the wound, stitch it back up and make a real difference.”