A POLICE officer who has served her community for three decades took her final steps on the neighbourhood beat this week.

Sergeant Jo Williams was surrounded by colleagues on Wednesday as she marked her retirement with flowers, cakes and much laughter and reminiscing.

Having come from Plymouth in 2007 to join Liskeard Police as Neighbourhood Team Leader, she has seen her role expand hugely over the last decade.

‘I’ve spent most of my service on the front line, serving my community which is what I always wanted to do,’ she said.

‘For me its been about being out helping people in the community directly. It’s a job that’s become harder and harder to do with the cuts in policing. But I’ve got the most fantastic team here in South East Cornwall - all hard working people with the best motivations.’

Ten years ago, Sgt Jo, who lives near Callington, was in charge of a team of seven serving the Liskeard area. Over the past decade, she has taken on responsibility first for Looe, and then for Torpoint and Saltash, and now, as team leader for South East Cornwall, has a team of 11 over the district.

‘It’s not the same job - we can’t do the things we used to do. But we’ve got a lot of hard working officers out there serving the community ,’ she said.

Sgt Jo reflects that the biggest single change she has seen over her 30 years as a police officer is the transformation in the force’s approach to women.

‘When I started, we had to wear a skirt, and carry a handbag. We were given limited duties, and even though I wasn’t a mum, it was assumed that I would always deal with children, because I was a woman,’ she said.

‘We’ve gone from that, to being in a position where it’s a much more equal service, and we’re expected to carry out the same tasks as our male colleagues.’

At the age of 49, Jo says she will ‘not be looking to forge another career’ but that she would like to take some time to recharge her batteries before getting involved in volunteer work.

It was a novelty, she said on Wednesday, to have an empty inbox, and absolutely no plans for the following day.

She describes herself as very much an outdoors person, and when not at work, she has enjoyed kayaking, and long distance walking, as well as being a keen artist.

Taking over from Sgt Jo as Neighbourhood Team Leader for South East Cornwall will be Sgt Rupert Eastley, who has already been based at Liskeard as a Response Sergeant for a couple of years.