Long-serving Shropshire police officer retires
One of Shropshire's longest-serving police officers is today retiring after more than three decades in the county.
Chief Inspector Martin Whitelegg steps down from West Mercia Police, leaving Monkmoor police station in Shrewsbury where he began his career 32 years ago.
In the intervening years since 1980, he has seen vast changes in policing and most recently, has taken a lead role locally as a member of the Shropshire Command Team.
As a newly-qualified police constable, Martin had spells "walking the beat" in Shrewsbury town centre and as a Panda car driver before being given a rural posting to Whitchurch and an attachment to CID. During the mid 1980s, he worked across north Shropshire and Wem covering various villages, including Bomere Heath and Shawbury.
In 1988, he returned to Shrewsbury as Acting Sergeant and a year later was promoted and posted to Telford. The 1990s saw him back in Shrewsbury as a sergeant, first on patrol, then in custody and finally in the control room where he oversaw the introduction of new technology.
Promotion to Inspector followed in 1997 when Martin returned to north Shropshire in charge of policing in Wem, Whitchurch, Market Drayton and Ellesmere. It was back to Shrewsbury again in 2003 on promotion to Chief Inspector.
As one of the county's senior officers, he has overseen the introduction of Local Policing and commanded many policing operations, including high-profile Shrewsbury Town matches. He has also been one of West Mercia's small band of hostage and crisis negotiators involved in siege situations and suicide intervention.
Martin has many memories of policing in Shropshire, especially the contrasts between when he started and now. "The passage of time has brought about many changes and developments. For example, in 1980, computers were in their infancy and gave very basic access to a small amount of information. All reports were either handwritten or done on a typewriter - and if you wanted a copy, you had to use carbon paper.
"My first Panda car was a light blue Mini Clubman estate. Equipment was pretty basic - a wooden truncheon and a pair of handcuffs."
Although retiring from the police, Martin has no plans to put his feet up, taking up a new role with Shropshire Council as a senior Neighbourhood officer.
He added: "Whilst I'm looking forward to taking on a new challenge, I shall be sorry to leave friends and colleagues behind. It has been an unimaginably rewarding career and in some small way, I hope I have made a difference to the lives of the public I have served and those I have had the privilege to work with."
