Ex Ernest Bevin Student now new Borough Commander!

Council leader Ravi Govindia has welcomed the appointment of a Balham and Tooting-bred former pupil of Ernest Bevin College as the borough's new top cop.

Chief Supt David Chinchen has been named as Wandsworth's new borough commander. He replaces Chief Supt David Musker who has become the borough commander in Croydon.

Chief Supt Chinchen will be taking charge of the police division where he first served as a young constable in 1981.

Following his first posting in Wandsworth he served in Streatham, Southwark, Bromley and Sutton. In subsequent years he was stationed at Scotland Yard where he led the Met's efforts to tackle knife crime, gangs and serious youth violence and also later headed Operation Target - a highly successful major crackdown on robbery, burglary and violent crime across 20 London boroughs.

Born and bred in Balham and Tooting he was educated at Ernest Bevin College and went on to achieve a 1st Class Honours Degree in Geography from the University of Wales and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Welcoming his return to the borough, Cllr Govindia said: "This is a very good appointment by the Met and is great news for Wandsworth.

"Chief Supt Chinchen is a highly experienced and very well respected police officer with a proven track record in tackling serious criminality. He has led some very important and successful pan-London campaigns for the Met and we are delighted to have an officer of his calibre working alongside us.

"Wandsworth has always prided itself on its successful partnership working with the police. It is one of the reasons why local crime levels have fallen so dramatically in recent years and why Wandsworth is without argument inner London's safest borough.

"We look forward to building on these successes with the new borough commander and all his officers in the months and years ahead."