An officer who has spent the last year managing Thames Valley Police's response to Covid-19 has joined the top policing team in Chiltern and South Bucks.

Chief Inspector Rachel Patterson has stepped into the role of deputy commander for the Chiltern and South Buckinghamshire Local Policing Area (LPA) - taking over from Chief Inspector Scott Messenger who is moving into a regional policing role.

C/Insp Patterson has 20 years of policing experience in different roles, and joined Thames Valley Police in 2009, working as a response sergeant in South Oxfordshire and Vale of the White Horse.

After being promoted to Inspector, C/Insp Patterson moved to the Oxford area where her work focused largely on community engagement and working closely with partner agencies, particularly to tackle the emerging issues of child exploitation and county drug lines.

Whilst in the police, she has also completed a graduate Diploma in Law and written an academic article on child drug running networks.

For the last year, she has been on the senior management team for Thames Valley Police’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring the force smoothly adapts to the roadmap out of lockdown.

On her new appointment, C/Insp Patterson said: “I am really excited to start in my new role in Chiltern and South Buckinghamshire, knowing that I am joining a team of extremely dedicated and hardworking police officers and staff who are passionate about policing”

“I am committed to delivering an excellent service to the communities we serve, focusing on the preventing crime that is impacting on our neighbourhoods. Bringing offenders to justice and keeping victims are the centre of our investigations will continue to be the priorities for the policing team here in Chiltern and South Buckinghamshire.

"This is rightly what our local communities expect and together with Supt Clements and DCI Alexander, I will ensure officers and staff have all they need to meet and exceed these expectations.

“I am looking forward to working alongside partners, businesses and the public and look at how we can work together to keep Chiltern and South Buckinghamshire a safe place to live and work."