Inverclyde's new police divisional commander has vowed to forge ever stronger ties with the community

Chief Superintendent Alan Murray declared that no crime is too big — or too small — to be reported as he urged the public to keep on coming forward.

In an exclusive interview with the Greenock Telegraph, Ch Supt Murray hailed the positive links already established which have helped to smash illegal drugs operations.

But he also sought to assure readers that so-called 'low level' crime which blights people's lives will be taken equally as seriously by his team — led locally by Greenock-born Chief Inspector Debbie Reilly.

Ch Supt Murray said: "The likes of anti-social behaviour has a very destructive impact on people's quality of life.

"What we don't want is people saying, 'Aye, there's something going on but I don't want to waste your time'.

"If it's criminal you need to tell us because we can't act upon it otherwise.

"There's nothing too big and nothing too small.

"It's the wellbeing of the whole area that we want to improve and protect."

The new chief comes to the Inverclyde and Renfrewshire command after 28 years in the police service, which has been spent entirely in the west of Scotland.

Following an initial posting to Dumbarton, Ch Supt Murray served in the Operational Support Division and firearms, public order and local policing units.

Hailing from Toward on the Cowal Peninsula, he has been an area commander in East Renfrewshire and has taken charge of events and football policing in Glasgow.

His last posting before coming here was at Police Scotland headquarters following his promotion to his current rank a year ago.

Ch Supt Murray said: "I'm delighted to come to Inverclyde and Renfrewshire.

"I know the area reasonably well but clearly I need to know it in far greater depth before I expand on what my plans are.

"I will be building upon the good work that Debbie Reilly and her deputy Julie McDonald have been doing.

"I think it's a really positive thing that Debbie and Julie both come from Inverclyde and have got a real stake in the area.

"I'm confident that they really have their fingers on the pulse of Inverclyde.

"It's certainly not a case of me coming here to fix something that's broken."

Ch Supt Murray said he was 'very encouraged' that so many other officers working in Inverclyde have been here long term, and also by the close partnership they have with the council.

He said: "Undoubtedly it helps that the officers from Inverclyde know so many people, so it is an advantage.

"I think that Greenock is misperceived, and maybe people are judging Greenock as to what it was like 30 years ago.

"Greenock and Inverclyde, in my view, is quite a safe place to live.

"I think it's well policed and I think we need to work hard to give people the reassurance that actually the chances of being a victim of crime here are lower than a lot of places in the country.

"What I want to do, hopefully through the Greenock Telegraph, is show the public what the police are doing and why we're doing it.

"I think the public can help us enormously because a lot of the information we get, we get from the public — and we act on it.

"There's been a few really good examples recently where we've recovered a very large amount of controlled drugs, and that came from members of the public."

Ch Supt Murray added: "I'm really pleased to be here and I see myself being here until the end of my service and I want to do as much as I can in that time."