Former Spalding copper takes up seaside beat in Skegness

Chief Insp Jim Tyner who has been promoted from community policing inspector for South Holland to take charge of policing in East Lindsay, including Skegness. Photo by Tim Wilson.

Chief Inspector Jim Tyner has left his role in charge of policing South Holland to crack crime in Skegness and East Lindsey.

Business and political leaders have paid tribute to Chief Insp Tyner for his efforts in policing Spalding, Crowland, Holbeach, Long Sutton and the rest of South Holland from January 2013 until March 2015 when he was moved to Skegness, initially on a temporary basis which has now been made permanent.

Chief Insp Tyner said: “I’m over the moon about the promotion and what I want to do is to take the best bits from my time in South Holland and find out if it works in East Lindsey.

“The main difference is size because whilst South Holland has diverse communities and larger towns, it’s only 284 square miles in size whereas East Lindsey is 600 square miles.

“But I’ll still be living in Spalding and it will remain my home.”

Chief Insp Tyner joined Lincolnshire Police as a Special Constable based in Spalding in 1989, becoming a full-time police officer three years later. He has enjoyed a steady rise through the ranks from sergeant to inspector, including a spell as staff officer to current Chief Constable Neil Rhodes when he was deputy to predecessor Richard Crompton in 2011.

“Of all my postings, I’ve had a particular fondness for Spalding and South Holland,” Chief Insp Tyner said.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by all the comments from people saying they will miss me and I shall remember both the staff and a lot of the community that would engage with me.

“However, what impressed me most was the officers in South Holland have an amazing ‘can do’ attitude and the way uniformed officers and CID worked.

“Every day, I saw examples of officers working hard on my strategy of neighbourhood policing and the officers across South Holland are a great team.”

Among the highlights of his time in South Holland singled out by Chief Insp Tyner was the setting up of Spalding Street Pastors in July 2013, the crackdown on low-level crime and disorder in and around The Vista last summer and the response to an US Air Force fighter jet crashing in Weston Hills last October.

Chief Insp Tyner said: “The way every officer responded to that incident, including officers about to go off duty who got their uniforms back on and then worked all the hours they had to, keeping people safe and returning the area to normality, is one of my fondest memories. We did a follow-up afterwards with Weston Hills Primary School to give the children a nice, happy memory.

“The other thing we did well was the dispersal order around Ayscoughfee Gardens and when we had community feedback about how much of a difference it made to peoples’ lives, it showed me what was the essence of community policing.”

Welcoming Chief Insp Tyner’s promotion, Boston and South Holland Chief Inspector Paul Timmins said: “I’m chuffed to bits for Jim because he’s worked hard in Spalding and done a fantastic job for me during his time in South Holland.

“I’ve worked alongside Jim while he’s been acting Chief Inspector for East Lindsey where he’s had to deal with some meaty issues already.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Jim and this is everything he deserves, along with everything that goes along with that.

“Jim has left some big shoes to fill in Spalding, but we have some plans in place to ensure that we get someone in there full-time.”

Chief Insp Tyner was also praised by the Leader of South Holland District Council, Gary Porter, who said: “I’m pleased for Jim because he’s a really good copper and South Holland will miss him.”