Richmond’s new police borough commander has insisted her force does not have a discipline problem in the wake of two high profile disciplinary actions in six months.

Parm Sandhu became the UK’s highest-ranking Asian woman in policing when she became Richmond borough commander in late July.

Chief superintendent Sandhu was appointed to the role in the wake of the April suspension of former borough commander Colin Kennedy, after allegations of gross misconduct were made against him.

And earlier this month Twickenham officer PC George Crosbie was dismissed after he was found to have not investigated a report of assault properly, and then asked a member of the public to lie to his superiors to cover it up.

But while she could not comment on her predecessor because an internal investigation is ongoing, Chief Supt Sandhu said there was not a problem with the ethos of the police in Richmond.

She said: “You are always going to have individuals who not only let themselves down, but let down the whole of the Metropolitan Police.

“Those situations are all dealt with properly and effectively.

“The general ethos of our force is that we have a code of ethics and it is expected that everyone adheres to it.

“It doesn’t matter what rank you are.

“PC Crosbie was dismissed in a tribunal, and tribunals are now open to the public and to reporters.

“We welcome that scrutiny because public confidence in policing is important – and complaints in this borough are very low.”

Having previously worked all over London for the Metropolitan Police, Chief Supt Sandhu served as deputy borough commander of Bromley.

Prior to her current role, she led the corruption review as part of the Met’s public inquiry team.

She hailed her new colleagues and Richmond residents for their friendliness and welcoming nature for allowing her to ‘land on her feet’ in her first two months as borough commander.

Alongside transport policing and dealing with crime and nuisance before and after international rugby matches at Twickenham Stadium, Chief Supt Sandhu highlighted cyber crime targeted at the elderly as her priority.

She said: “Older people are not as good with using computers as younger people.

“When they are phoned by someone saying they are from their bank they believe them – and are then sometimes too embarrassed to report the crime.

“Sometimes people even hire taxis to collect victim’s cards from their homes.”

She encouraged residents to attend one of a series of cyber crime prevention workshops Richmond police is holding this autumn.