New Divisional Commander in East Kent

The policing division that covers the East of the county has a new commander in charge.

Chief Superintendent Jon Sutton has taken over from Alan Horton who has been promoted to Temporary Assistant Chief Constable, following the retirement of Ian Learmonth as Chief Constable.

Ch Supt Sutton has more than 27 years' experience with Kent Police having spent most of his career as a detective, working his way up through the ranks in a variety of different roles.

His career started in Maidstone where he became a Detective Constable in what was known as 'CID'.

He spent five years with the National Crime Squad on a secondment where he gained experience dealing with national and international crime.

This was followed by a period working in the Medway Towns as Detective Sergeant on serious acquisitive crimes such as burglary and drugs and also covert policing and surveillance.

On promotion to Detective Inspector he went on to work in Swale, Gravesend and Dartford and then a Detective Chief Inspector in Medway.

More recently he has gained experience as a Superintendent at Force Headquarters working in strategic neighbourhood and partnership policing, and spent time leading covert operations in Kent and Essex within the Forces' Serious Crime Directorate.

As Detective Chief Superintendent Jon has recently worked on the implementation of Predictive Policing throughout Kent.

Chief Supt Sutton said: "I'm delighted and privileged to be leading the East Division. On my first day here I was reminded of the bravery and courage my officers routinely display putting themselves in harm's way to protect the public following an incident in Folkestone where two officers were injured.

"My priority will be to cut crime and catch criminals whilst ensuring we continue to provide visible policing within our neighbourhoods solving local problems.

"I will be working closely with my five district commanders to ensure we are providing a first class service protecting and serving all of our communities from Canterbury to the coastal towns, Ashford, and our more isolated rural areas.

"I'm also looking forward to meeting many of the people who live and work in the division over the next few weeks."

Jon Sutton is married and lives near Canterbury with his wife and five children aged between 5 and 16.