Argus guest editor Peter James interviews Sussex Police Chief Constable Giles York.

What is your view on officers putting their lives on the line?

We see acts of amazing courage every day where officers and staff step forward and put themselves in the way of harm.

Sometimes their judgement is questionable and they take more risks than they should.

I’ve threatened a couple with discipline for repeated, exceptional actions.

It’s a fine line.

You’ve made Chestnut Tree House your charity for 2017 – can you tell me your reasons for supporting this wonderful charity?

When we visited Chestnut Tree House I thought I was going to be walking into a sad place; a hospice for children who were terminally ill.

But it is an incredibly happy place, celebrating the lives of children, even if they are shorter lives than many others.

Chestnut Tree House is a life-changing experience not only for the children but also for their families.

As our charity for this year I want to try and spread greater understanding of what Chestnut Tree House is achieving and what a special place it is.

What does being chief constable mean to you?

Being chief constable is an incredible privilege for anybody.

I have a board downstairs with the names and pictures of all my predecessors.

It’s about being a leader for the people within the organisation and living up to their expectations as well as being a leader in society across the whole of Sussex.

As such, it’s a huge responsibility as well as being an incredibly exciting one.

There is a huge variety in what you are allowed to do and to have access to so many peoples’ lives and stories is an honour and privilege.

It’s a £250 million to £300 million organisation and its members are touching lives every single day.

Do you ever take work home with you mentally?

I have very few barriers between home and work, and work and home.

My wife and three children are often with me at police events though they do often have a moan when I am on the work phone at home.

Modern technology gives me the flexibility to work anywhere.

Do you have a personal disturbing incident that sticks in your mind?

This one goes back a long way to when I was an operational inspector.

To a very traumatic tragedy when I was one of the team policing a Gillingham versus Fulham football match.

One of the Fulham supporters was punched by a Gillingham fan and fell down dead.

I was at the scene within two minutes attempting to give a safe space for those administering life-saving first aid in the midst of the disturbance.

On that same occasion I was also bitten by a police dog despite having been warned three times by the handler to stand back.

What is your view on the Government budget cuts of recent years to police funding?

If I ever had a dream of becoming chief constable it would not have been in an environment like this.

None of us likes working out what we are not going to be able to do.

But I do think there are some real opportunities for how we can modernise.

We don’t have a specific target audience – everyone is subject to policing and benefits from policing.

We can explore some of the opportunities for the future.

Policing is still absolutely a profession and a career people hanker after.

Whenever we open the doors for officers or police staff we are inundated with applications. It is an incredibly rewarding job to be able to do with a tangible satisfaction for people who carry it out day to day.

What has changed most about policing during your career to date?

The scale of transparency and honesty in policing today.

These examples would not have been possible when I joined 25 years ago.

The nature of crime and criminals has changed from very local crimes, violence in the street and very recent crimes, to more serious crimes, rape and serious (sexual) assaults not only today but dating back maybe 25 years.

Another type of crime we are still trying to get round is online crime which has no geographical boundaries. It may be from the next street or from anywhere in the world.

What is your vision for Sussex policing for the next five years?

Absolutely we have a vision.

Having lived through change for 15 to 20 years I feel it is really important and a fundamental need to hold on to it is key.

British policing is recognised as being best for local delivery, and we need to keep local contact with the community.

So much comes back to the local police and knowing who our people are.

As I said earlier, we still have to modernise.

Effective policing doesn’t have to be people walking the streets for longer.

Sometimes it is a Facebook post or twitter tweet that is so much more effective than an officer patrolling on foot.

We need the trust of the local community and to be there for the vulnerable.

We might often not feel we are vulnerable but sometimes we find ourselves in vulnerable circumstances.

We must have that presence.

Although Sussex is no stranger to terrorism with The Grand bombing in 1984, have the recent terrorist attacks had an effect on Sussex policing?

It has absolutely had an impact.

I did the London to Brighton bike ride last weekend and at the end there were four armed officers and people were pleased to see them.

That is how it feels at the moment.

I think we are a long way from arming all police officers as a matter of course.

We are still regarded internationally as remarkable for most officers not carrying weapons.

My experience is that we find ourselves running towards the thing that everyone else wants to run away from.

So many members of the public have been demonstrating that type of courage in recent weeks and putting themselves in the way of danger.

What is your view on the relationship between the police and local papers?

The relationship has changed in the last ten years.

Messaging has changed so much.

In the past, the public were dependent on the media for news and information.

Today they can turn to any number of sources and much of what the police do comes directly from the public.

The press are good stakeholders.

We are working hard with them and there is a mass of independent press presence to publicly examine things we are doing.

There are 5,000 or so people associated with Sussex Police and there is always going to be something changing.

How we react is incredibly important for public relations.

We have good independent relationships with press outlets.

You were the first chief constable that I’m aware of, and certainly in Sussex, to begin tweeting and many parts of your force have subsequently embraced twitter. Can you tell me your views on it?

I am very conscious of keeping a local feel to our use of social media and not an automated message – like “I was proceeding in a westerly direction ….”

We need an understanding of how the various aspects can work.

I had a conversation early on to understand Twitter. It is not a broadcast, it is about dialogue and conversation.

I use it to make contact with my own staff and employees across the county.

I think it is a powerful tool when used to engage in dialogue with the public and to avoid broadcasting at them.