Kingston's deputy top cop joins Kingston beat
11:20am Monday 6th February 2012 in Where I Live By David Lindsell
Kingston's deputy top cop joins beat
Kingston police’s new number two joined the beat this month and brought a working knowledge of the borough with him.
Detective Superintendent Ian Smith was one of the detectives who investigated the murder of a woman found dismembered in a freezer in 2004.
Teacher Paul Dalton killed his Korean wife Tae Hui Dalton with a single blow and hid her body in the freezer at their home in Woodside Road, Kingston.
He was later sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter.
D Supt Smith was one of the many officers who worked tirelessly to help secure Dalton’s conviction.
Now he will join Kingston as borough commander Martin Greenslade’s deputy, after 28 years service in the Metropolitan Police most recently as acting borough commander in Southwark.
He was due to spend his first night on patrol in Kingston town centre last Friday night, an evening that saw a rape and a group fight reported.
D Sup Smith, who lives in Thames Ditton and is married with two young children, will control CID, neighbourhood policing and response teams.
He said: “I believe in total policing and being really robust with people who break the law and those who engage in antisocial behaviour.
“I advocate firm but fair policing.
“We want to get the basics right first time.”
Meanwhile Kingston police station will be closed floor by floor from March and officers moved to nearby Eagle House while their floor is refurbished and the number of cells doubled.
A police spokesman said: “It will be good for us to have more space. Hopefully it should be finished by Christmas and then we will be back.”
Kingston police station and nearby Surbiton were described as inadequate, inefficient and expensive to maintain in a Metropolitan Police report four years ago.
Surbiton police station, a former schoolhouse, has since been sold to a language school with officers moving into modern offices in Millbank House, Surbiton, and Hook Parade.
