‘Jersey is a lovely place’ is, inevitably, part of his response. But there is more to it, and Robin Smith is honest in his answer.
‘It was put to me, during the process of applying for this job, that this is a retirement job. I’m pretty confident they won’t say that soon.
‘Any senior police officer wants his or her own commission and one thing about the SOJP is you are the police chief of an island but also, essentially, a country. And with that there are really interesting added complexities, particularly with working so closely with a government.
‘You would not get that, as such, in a force in the UK. There’s the chance to get things done quicker and the ability to be closer to the law and procedures so that changes can be made for the better.’
He also recognises though that there will be certain nuances and challenges to adapt to for an officer who has spent 30 years working in the UK.
Only Centeniers can charge offenders here, there are 13 forces on a nine-by-five rock and some tricky road/place names to grasp, too.
‘St Ouen doesn’t have a “w” in it,’ he recognised. Although, to his credit, he has only been in the Island a matter of weeks and already knows what a côtil is and has heard of Ouaisné.
‘And I am scared stiff of the east and west divide,’ joked Mr Smith, who said he had been amused by Islanders’ curiosity as to what side of the Tunnel he has chosen to live on.
The husband and father-of-two is a keen golfer, and has already joined crowds in St Peter to cheer on the Jersey Reds rugby team.
He compared the learning he has had to do about Jersey’s intricacies to ‘drinking water from a fire hydrant’.
‘Jersey is a lovely place and, as police chief, I want to ensure it stays that way,’
he continued. To do that, Mr Smith plans to focus heavily on community policing ‘with teeth’ and tackle serious organised crime.
Financial crime is a focus too, he adds, and he has spent his first weeks being briefed on MONEYVAL – a European counter money-laundering and terrorist financing initiative.
The States police were criticised in a recent Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary report for having too narrow a focus on drug gangs targeting Jersey and not a wider view of other organised crime.
‘There is a phrase I use that policing is policing wherever you are. It really does not matter what jurisdiction you are in. It’s simple: we stop crimes, protect the victims and get there quickly when we are needed. It does not need to be any more complicated than that.’
Mr Smith said any new chief ‘worth their salt’ would be be fully aware of Jersey’s international finance industry and tourism sector and the importance of protecting its image by tackling crime.
And after the JEP reported on interviews with two drug criminals who spoke about the attraction that the Island has to crime gangs in the UK and Europe because of high street prices and a lack of gang-on-gang violence, Mr Smith has a message:
‘If you are coming to this island to commit crime, know that we will catch you. We will be relentless and, where needed, we will be occasionally ruthless and also legally audacious.’
And on the topic of reputation, Mr Smith said he had been impressed so far by his conversations with Islanders and their views of the States police. A Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, completed by about 1,000 randomly selected Islanders, found that about nine out of ten agreed at some level that force did a good job. One in four of those strongly agreed.
But it is not all rosy. A Facebook group called called Unknown Jersey – led by ‘Britain’s most prolific paedophile hunter’ Cheyenne O’Connor and followed by 7,000 people – seemingly shares a different view of the force, suggesting that it is untrustworthy and often inept when it comes to properly investigating sexual crimes against children. And some of Miss O’Connor’s recent comments about the police have made headlines in the UK and Europe.
So how does the force handle a problem like Cheyenne?
‘I think we are fighting the same fight,’ Mr Smith said. ‘There may be different methods and styles but we have the same goals I think. Maybe one day we can get to a stage where we work together, with everyone. As I said, we all have the same goals.’
Miss O’Connor (27) remains on police bail after she was arrested for alleged harassment and contempt of court. Her work posing as a child online has led to the convictions of 19 offenders in Jersey, Guernsey and the UK.
Mr Smith’s career started on the streets of Brighton – so fitting, perhaps, that he should end up running a force surrounded by the sea. His father, Ron, was a detective and Mr Smith was inspired to follow in his footsteps. He worked his way through the ranks, which included spells in drugs squads in Brighton and Special Branch units, to become Deputy Chief Constable for Sussex and Surrey police forces. There was a near-two-year stint as divisional commander at Gatwick Airport as well.
‘I can still remember my first arrest like it was yesterday – trying to fumble out the police caution. It was a drunk and disorderly – hardly the crime of the century – but it stays with you,’ he said.
‘I know to this day why I joined the police. It is a vocation; from catching criminals and this overwhelming feeling of a sense you are protecting the public. It’s something I don’t think you can teach.’
Before Jersey, Mr Smith was an Assistant Chief Constable for the British Transport Police, covering England, Scotland and Wales. It was a role that put him at the heart of the response to some of the worst terror attacks on British soil.
It was 22 May 2017 when a radical Islamist terrorist detonated a shrapnel-laden bomb as people – many teenagers – were leaving Manchester Arena following a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people died, including the attacker, and 139 were wounded.
Mr Smith was one of the strategic commanders involved in the response that day.
‘That was a really challenging experience,’ he said. But it’s not just about me but the brilliant men and women who responded to the ticket hall where the bomb went off. You can only imagine what they saw as some of the victims were very young. I am not being deliberately humble but it is about them. It was obviously a challenge for me.’
Less than two weeks later Mr Smith would play a similar role in the London Bridge terror attack where eight people died and 48 were injured when three men drove a van into crowds of people before attacking others with knives.
There were many Islanders who were irked by the Cambridgeshire-born police officer’s appointment before he had even been sworn in.
‘Jersey’s police chief should be from Jersey,’ many argued, with their annoyance amplified by the fact the Acting Deputy Chief Officer James Wileman, a former Victoria College student, had been in the running for the job.
‘You know what, I get that,’ he responded. ‘Why would the people of Jersey not want a Jersey chief? But the most important thing is, at this time, that there was a robust process and they appointed who they think is the best person for the job at this time. But, as chief, you very quickly think about your legacy.
‘I want mine to be how we develop all our staff, not just in terms of promotion but making sure all our staff can develop their skills at all ranks and levels. And as I seek to promote people, one thing I will ask is what has that person done to develop their potential successor. So a Jersey chief in Jersey? I am very keen for that to be the case.’
And so, although not a Jersey Bean – he could not have a more English surname – Mr Smith says he is ready for the challenges this rock and its people will throw at him. And, at least, if there is a crime on a sloping field near a beach adjacent to St Brelade’s Bay, he will know what everyone is talking about.
