Tomorrow is a significant day for policing in Richmond.

Our borough is one of four parts of the Met Police's South West borough command unit, and its leader Sally Benatar is stepping down.

After 31 years with the Met Police Ms Benatar, a chief superintendent, is retiring.

She was one of the first people we interviewed and you can read that piece here.

Richmond Nub News wishes Ms Benatar a happy retirement. This is her final message.

On Friday, August 28, it is my last working day in the Metropolitan Police after 31 years' service. 31 years sounds a long time, but it doesn't feel long to me.

After completing police training at Hendon, I spent four happy years on Response Team in Tower Hamlets. I then moved to Special Branch where I worked on extremism and then became a protection officer. After that, I moved to Aviation Policing at Heathrow, the Olympics VIP Protection Operation and to Hounslow Borough, which I loved. I was then posted to the Transformation Directorate. In 2017, I was posted as the BCU Commander for South West London, covering Richmond, Kingston, Wandsworth and Merton boroughs and this has been my last posting.

Working in the South West has been the most stimulating and enjoyable posting of them all. As BCU Commander I have two main roles. The first is to provide a good local policing service to the people of South West London and the second is to lead and look after our officers and staff. As leaders we should focus on our own people and the rest will follow. Of course processes and performance are important but people come first. I'm proud of what we are doing on South West, but particularly on the people side.

I spend a lot of time talking to partners, politicians, community leaders and members of public, which is all part of my role. At the moment I am frequently asked about racial profiling and disproportionality based on skin colour. I listen and explain that our South West officers go out on the streets day and night to keep everyone safe and that I'm confident that we police by intelligence rather than by racial profiling. We are not perfect as an organisation, we are not yet representative of the people we serve and it's right that our actions are open to scrutiny. We need to listen more to the public we serve, and to our own staff, and we do need change within the Met to make the organisation more inclusive. But the racial bias in our society cannot be fixed by the Met on its own. Our officers are focused on suppressing violence and I am concerned about the increase in assaults and increased level of abuse that colleagues are facing this summer. I support my colleagues to use police powers and tactics proportionately and ethically to keep the public, themselves and their colleagues safe.

Now is a tough time to leave the organisation that I love but it is the right time for me, for personal reasons. I'm looking forward to whatever comes next. To start with that will involve resting, relaxing and reflecting. I have taken up a voluntary trustee role with London Sport, which is very exciting for me as I love London and I love sport. I'm looking forward to supporting London Sport's mission of making London the most physically active city in the world.

I am happy to be handing over a stable BCU to Chief Superintendent Lis Chapple who I know will do a brilliant job for our colleagues and for the people of South West London.

I would like to say a big thank you to all our officers and staff on the South West BCU and across London who work so hard day and night to keep London safe. And a big thank you too to our partners and to the public who support us with our work. I have been proud to serve as a police officer and it has been a privilege to work with you and do my best to make our four beautiful and vibrant boroughs safer.

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