Our Town, Our Future

Our Town, Our Future is a Q&A series designed to introduce you to the passionate individuals behind Dewsbury Neighbourhood Board. This month we’re talking to Jim Griffiths.

Chief Superintendent Jim Griffiths has been in the police for 28 years and is now the District Commander for Kirklees. Growing up in and around Dewsbury, the safety and security of the town is not only fundamental to his role in the police but also as a member of Dewsbury Neighbourhood Board.

Tell us a bit about you and why you got involved with Dewsbury Neighbourhood Board?

I’m District Commander for Kirklees, which means I’m responsible for leading operational policing within the borough. I’ve been doing the role for around four years and have been a police officer in the area for 28 years.

The majority of my policing career has been spent in or around Kirklees and I started working in Dewsbury Police Station in 2005, where I was appointed on a burglary team and got to work on some really interesting cases.

Dewsbury has always been close to my heart. Before I joined the police, I worked in the centre of town and it played a big role in my younger days. I have some great memories of it.

I genuinely care about Dewsbury. So when the opportunity came up to join the Board, I jumped at the chance. I am thrilled that I can help to bring my policing expertise and safety focus to help people, and work with those who have a similar passion for the town.

What does Dewsbury mean to you personally?

I was born in Dewsbury, lived there for a period and have been visiting Dewsbury for most of my life. I really care about the town centre – it was always a treat for me to go to Dewsbury when I was younger.

While town centres across the UK have changed and faced challenges over the last decade, there are still some real positives in Dewsbury. From a Neighbourhood Board perspective, it’s our role to help reshape the town centre so it better serves the public. The way people use town centres has evolved, and we need to respond to that change.

While regeneration might not be my direct area of expertise, I believe there is so much opportunity in Dewsbury with its strong history and diverse communities. It could really make an imprint as a town in the north.

What’s been one of the biggest challenges or misconceptions about Dewsbury that you’d like to help change, and how would you do that?

In terms of safety in the town, the statistics give us an indication of what’s going on. A lot of the time people do believe that places are a lot worse than they actually are because of how it feels – and this is something we see in almost all towns beyond Dewsbury also.

The feeling a town gives is very important and relates to how people use and spend their time in it. People have got to feel safe and welcome, and it is a priority of mine to change how people feel in the town.

Walking around Dewsbury should be a safe place, day and night, for everybody.

Crucially, although the statistics may show that Kirklees and Dewsbury are relatively safe places, if it doesn’t feel that way to those who live and work in them, then it doesn’t really matter what the numbers say.

What would you like to see in the next 5 to 10 years in Dewsbury Town Centre that you think would really make a difference to it?

I’m really looking forward to moving into our new Dewsbury HQ on Halifax Road.  It’s a lovely building and will make a real difference to people’s perceptions of that part of Dewsbury and the old College site, now that it has been extensively developed to provide us with a stunning new headquarters.

Our project has taken many years to get to this point, and I would hope that other developments will improve the town.

I would also be keen to see an improved housing offering in Dewsbury town centre, as it will lead to more footfall. The old Police Station site may be a good place for that sort of opportunity. More people in the town centre means more people wanting to eat, wanting to spend and more potential for businesses to open. This would be all round positive.

It would also be great to make Dewsbury a location for living and working for young people. It is a great place in its own right, with the benefit of fantastic transport links to Leeds, Manchester, Bradford and Sheffield.

I’d also like to see more use of Dewsbury Town Hall as venue. It’s a brilliant building where we hosted our awards ceremony recently and I believe it could be used for all sorts of business and public events.

What would be your message to people who are doubting the safety of Dewsbury?

We’ve now got a strong police presence in the town and we are doing what we can to stop Dewsbury being a place where criminals might feel comfortable.

Things are 100% moving in the right direction, and with the regeneration plans and big changes happening in the next 5 to 10 years, I’m hopeful that perceptions around safety will start to shift.

We’re constantly thinking of ways to engage the public more regularly, to hear what is important to them. I’m also now chairing a sub-group of the Board that specifically focuses on safety and security.

We’ve got lots of plans about what we can do to improve it but if people have got ideas, I’m really open to welcoming the public’s input and act on them accordingly.

What project will make the biggest difference to Dewsbury and why?

A project and opportunity that will help change how people feel in terms of safety is the new Kirklees Police HQ moving to Dewsbury. Having the central location of the District in Dewsbury will support more visibility of police officers and police staff in the town centre, not only to prevent crimes but because they maybe there getting some lunch or driving back to the police station from an incident or enquiry.

I’m also excited to launch the multi-disciplinary team that will be put in place to make the town feel safer overall. Alongside the excellent architectural and regeneration projects already underway, this initiative will further improve Dewsbury as a place to live and visit. By keeping the town cleaner and tackling crime and antisocial behaviour through a visible on-the-ground presence.

If you had to describe Dewsbury in three words, what would they be?

Historic, Connected and Diverse.

What’s your go-to independent spot?

When I’m in Dewsbury, I always try to go for a walk and go back to the town hall, which is a wonderful piece of history.

What do you love the most about the people of Dewsbury?

People in Dewsbury are typical Yorkshire people. They are friendly, helpful and they all have this warmth in common. I used to play cricket in the different clubs and grounds around Dewsbury where people from all walks of life would come together to be part of the sport – whether it was playing, watching or helping to make the teas. Despite them being from different backgrounds, they were all unified through cricket and it was such a vibrant, fun community to be around.