Meet the woman in charge of Wellington police: 'I'm not brand new out of the box, says Sgt Kat Forrest

POLICE Sgt Kat Forrest has taken charge of Wellington’s neighbourhood policing team as she continues to pursue a career she chose at the age of eight years.

Sgt Forrest, who joined the force nearly 16 years ago, has taken over for an indefinite term in Wellington from long-serving sergeant Dan Bishop after he passed his inspector’s exams and was seconded to an internal policing project.

She has already met town councillors and members of the Wellington One team and has been out and about to get to the know the community as quickly as she can.

Although Sgt Forrest has been transferred from Taunton, she already knew Wellington from many occasions in the past when she had helped to support the town’s policing team.

She said: “Wellington is like Taunton’s little brother or sister and I think unless you live here you might not appreciate the community feel of the place.

“I have been welcomed everywhere I have been and you can really feel that community spirit.

“I like being part of the community, where everybody mucks in and helps one another out.”

One of the issues she has already picked up on is inconsiderate parking on roads on the Cades housing estate, which recently has been a subject of complaints on social media.

Supporting young people is also high on the agenda and Sgt Forrest said some new initiatives were being discussed with Court Fields School to encourage youngsters, and staff, to talk to officers if they had any concerns or any intelligence on any matters.

“I think it is very important to provide a voice to our young people,” she said.

Sgt Forrest also countered an often-expressed public feeling that ‘you never see the police these days’.

She quoted an analogy she heard recently: “You get your post delivered, but how often do you see your Postie?”

Sgt Forrest said: “The police station inquiries desk opening hours do not dictate our working hours.

“We are always around but unless you are in the right place at the right time you might not see us.

“The neighbourhood policing team, two PCs and two PCSOs, are based in Wellington, although some calls are serviced for response from Taunton.”

The wider policing team covering rural areas outside Wellington, such as West Buckland, comprised Sgt Forrest plus three PCs and four PCSOs.

Sgt Forrest admitted to being ambitious with her career, but not to what those ambitions were.

“I have ambitions to see how far it takes me,” she said. “I will be a police officer until retirement.

“I wanted to be a police officer since I was eight years old and I knew that was going to be my occupation of choice.

“I was inspired by my grandfather, Jim Chivers, who was a police officer in Bridgwater for many years. There are still some in Bridgwater who remember him now.

“And my mum worked in a communications centre for the police when I was young.”

Sgt Forrest joined the constabulary in Bridgwater in 2007 and has since had a mostly frontline policing role, serving in Cheddar and then Taunton, and also completing a stint in a drugs team.

“I am not brand new out of the box,” she said. “I joined the police because I want to help people and I want to keep people safe and I want them to feel safe.”

One of her proudest achievements to date was leading a team tackling youth anti-social behaviour and crime in the Priorswood area of Taunton, where the level of youth crime was significantly reduced by using a whole range of policing measures.

She was also part of a large operation tackling ‘County Lines’ drug gangs where ‘we put a lot of people in jail’.

Before joining the police, Sgt Forrest went to college and became a qualified children’s nursery nurse, and then worked for a time in hospitality.

Outside of policing, Sgt Forrest and her partner enjoy taking their camper van to stay in places such as West Wales, and she also skis, bakes, sews, and spends time with her family - although not necessarily in that order!