Richmond's new borough commander wants the borough to be the safest in London and says he is not a fan of knife arches.

Chief Superintendent Colin Kennedy, who has lived in Teddington for 28 years, took over from interim predecessor Detective Superintendent Debra Towns last month.

Having worked for the Metropolitan Police since 1986, he has set out the objective to make Richmond the safest borough in London.

He said: "Our primary objective will be to drive levels of crime and antisocial behaviour down even more.

"It does seem the majority of crime does appear, on face value, to be committed by offenders coming from outside the borough.

"But that doesn't mean we can be complacent - while residential burglaries have fallen significantly, lots of sheds and gardens are being broken into.

"These are the type of properties people keep high value items in and I am pleading with the community to safeguard them."

Chief Supt Kennedy is half-German and his wife is a journalist for German newspaper Bild.

He considers himself to be very much part of the community he aims to protect, while his children attended the German School in Petersham before studying at Richmond College.

Having spent his first Saturday night in the job working with officers, he paid tribute to the good work of Det Supt Towns and her team.

He said: "That night we dealt with a number of different cases, including domestic abuse, which you will get everywhere.

"I was hugely impressed with the way the officers went about their jobs and the patience they displayed.

"It is definitely a legacy to my predecessor Det Supt Debbie Towns and the leadership team."

The first half of 2014 has seen a number of knife-related criminal incidents make headlines across Richmond.

The new borough commander said processes had been put in place with schools but admitted he is not keen on the use of knife arches, which can often be seen operating at Twickenham station.

He described an incident outside Richmond College in May, where a teenager was stabbed, as an "isolated incident".

He said: "The incident at Richmond College, in terms of the stabbing, was isolated.

"We have undertaken work with the college, and other schools, to develop a situation where parents and schools know how to report incidents.

"This is a safe borough and we have visitors who should be feeling safe - knife arches don't convey that and I won't want to see them there on a routine basis."

If you have not seen him out and about yet, keep your eyes peeled because Chief Supt Kennedy says he enjoys walking the beat on foot.