THE new chief of Thames Valley Police has taken on the top job with a long to-do list.

From worrying rises in knife crime and the ongoing fight against drugs to internal issues with officer recruitment and the 101 call system, John Campbell isn't expecting to be eased into the role.

But for someone who has spent more than 30 years in the force, including the last four as deputy chief constable, he already has the experience to fill the shoes left by outgoing chief constable Francis Habgood.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail during his first week in the role, Mr Campbell said people shouldn't expect to see drastic changes in the way he plans to run the force.

READ AGAIN: Thames Valley Police reveal results of latest crackdown on knife crime

He said: "We are going to continue to build on the good work we have done.

"We want to maintain neighbourhood policing which I believe is the life-blood of the force, and making sure we have as many people on patrol as we can.

"Crime should not be happening in the first place. Our priorities are reducing crime and disorder and, when it does happen, to get justice for the victims."

Mr Campbell said he believed protecting vulnerable people, particularly children, was at the heart of policing.

He places importance on working with different partners to share skills and ensure people don't follow a path towards committing more and more offences.

Oxford and the greater Thames Valley has not seen the same steep rises in violent crime as elsewhere but it is going up nonetheless and there has been several high profile stabbings of late.

He said: "Part of it will be because of the increased attention, we get more reports.

"We remain low compared to other areas but it is something we need to focus on.

"Any knife offence is one too many.

"We need to make sure people don't feel like they can hold a weapon with impunity."

READ AGAIN: 'Inordinate' amount of police time spent on 'non-crimes'

He said stop-and-search is a power he thinks can play a role in tackling the current surge and stressed that TVP in general gets very few complaints when its officers do carry out searches.

He urged members of the public to report incidents to them so officers can build up intelligence in order to tackle problems in certain areas.

Senior figures in the police, including our own crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld, have recently criticised the 'inordinate' amount of police time being spent on 'non-crimes'.

Mr Campbell said he felt hate crime did need to be investigated because it may be a signal that things are getting worse within a community and this sort of crime can make people's lives unbearable.

But, he believes that, it must not impact on the police's ability to investigate the most serious offences.

On the 101 calling system, he accepted that things 'have not been good enough lately' but said more call handlers are being recruited and he hopes to avoid the problems seen last year.