Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary welcomes new District Commander for Havant and East Hampshire

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is delighted to welcome Chief Inspector Matt Moss as the new District Commander for Havant and East Hampshire.

Chief Inspector Moss replaces Chief Inspector Alex Charge, who has been promoted to Superintendent and is now the District Commander for Southampton.

Matt has a wealth of policing experience and has joined the district from our Contact Management Department, where he had led the Triage Hub since October 2023.

C/Insp Moss joined Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary in 2001, beginning his career in Gosport before moving to the Force Control Room in 2004 to work as a police controller. He moved to Portsmouth in 2005 and spent the next 10 years working in a variety of roles in Portsmouth before joining the Licensing Team, which covered the two counties.

C/Insp Moss was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2017 and posted to Hedge End, where he led the Neighbourhood Policing teams, and became an Inspector on a temporary basis in 2019, being posted to the Isle of Wight. He was permanently promoted to Inspector in 2021 and posted to the Police Control Room, where he was a Force Incident Manager. This role included becoming an initial Tactical Firearms Commander and pursuit manager, as well as overseeing the day to day deployment of officers across the force.

C/Insp Moss was promoted to Chief Inspector in 2023 and has overseen the development of the forces ‘Triage Hub’, a department which reviews the majority of incoming crime reports received from a variety of sources. He also leads the Force’s Post Incident Managers – a group of senior officers and staff who have the role of ensuring transparency around police contact in any incident where a death or serious injury has occurred.

Outside of work, Matt grew up in the Waterlooville area and also went to school and college locally. He is married and has two daughters aged 8 and 4. He is a keen golfer and as part of this also organises the Force’s golf section, who play friendly fixtures against several local clubs – including in the Havant and East Hampshire districts.

Chief Inspector Moss said: “I’m delighted to be appointed as the District Commander for Havant and East Hampshire”.

“The two districts encompass such a wide array of policing challenges, which I know my teams will work night and day to tackle. I am a big believer in being as visible and connected with our communities as possible. I believe in leading from the front, so do not be surprised if you see me out and about or see a post from me directly on our social media channels. Please don’t hesitate to engage with us in any way you can, I am very keen to have input from our communities on our policing priorities.

“If you are unfortunate enough to be a victim of a crime, I expect my teams to contact you, be clear with you on what we are doing and update you regularly with our progress. I expect my teams to relentlessly pursue those who are committing crime in our towns, villages or in our rural areas, but to best do this, we need the public’s help.

“The information you provide plays a vital role in helping us police our communities as effectively as possible, and we encourage you to report any information which could assist us.

“Please keep contacting us to report crime, suspicious or anti-social behaviour. If you need to call, don’t be put off by ‘a long wait on 101’. The average speed to answer a 101 call this year is 2 minutes and 21 seconds, and 92.6% of all 101 calls are answered in less than 10 minutes.

“In the unfortunate event of an emergency, the average speed to answer a 999 call is just 3 seconds.

“If you haven’t already completed a Let's Talk survey, please take a moment to do so. Let’s Talk is our community survey initiative that aims to understand the needs of our local communities and enables you to share any concerns with our officers. It’s a really important tool, which is already helping us to better understand the public’s concerns and subsequently work with partners to effectively address the issues raised.”

Our Let’s Talk survey can be found at https://survey.hampshirealert.co.uk/