There is no two-tier policing in Hertfordshire, its chief constable insisted, as he admitted there are "very real and live community tensions" following the murder of Henry Nowak.

Chief Constable Andy Prophet appeared before Herts County Council's Public Health and Community Safety Cabinet Panel on Thursday, June 4, where he updated members on local policing.

Henry Nowak was murdered by Vickrum Singh Digwa, a 23-year-old British Sikh, in Southampton, on December 3, 2025. Nowak, who was stabbed four times, was arrested and handcuffed by police while he was dying after a false allegation of assault and racism was made by Digwa.

Mr Prophet said: "Recently, we've had the events as reported in the last 48 hours down in Southampton, the horrible murder of Henry Nowak, and there are very real and live community tensions around that and a real live conversation about what policing's response is.

"Is policing delivering a two-tier response to different communities depending on who they are? And I am really clear to you, in my own mind and to my workforce, we do not deliver two-tier policing.

"We deliver policing without fear or favour. It doesn't matter who you are, what you identify as, what sexuality you are, what sex you are, what race you are – you get treated as an individual and a human being and according to your needs.

"That's an absolutely clear message to my team, and I'd ask you to reiterate that to your communities."

Mr Prophet also announced the appointment of John Simpson as assistant chief constable, to take charge of local policing and the control room, and two new chief inspectors.

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Elsewhere, the chief constable said: "Nationally, there's lots going on in policing at the moment… the ongoing conversation around police force restructures, what should be dealt with nationally, what should be dealt with locally continues.

"We are expecting a report from Lord Hogan-Howe [member of the House of Lords and former London police commissioner] in August or September, where he will make recommendations to the Home Secretary about how many police forces there should be in the country. There are currently 43, of which Hertfordshire is one.

"We will see what that [report] says. It may suggest fewer forces, either regionally or sub-regionally organised, and I think there are lots of conversations to be had about the pros, cons or otherwise of that.

"Obviously, there have been a lot of events in recent weeks or months that are noteworthy and affect us here in our communities in Hertfordshire. The very recent attacks against our colleagues and friends in the Jewish community.

"We know we've got a very high population of Jewish communities in Hertfordshire, a number of attacks just over the border in North London on individuals, and we've had some antisemitic crime and hate crime reported here.

"So, there are ongoing police patrols around places of worship, synagogues and places of gathering. The levels of community concern are heightened, and the government is currently looking at funding police forces, including Hertfordshire, to a greater extent, to continue over and above normal policing, those heightened levels of policing response around those communities."

The chief constable told councillors about his ambition for the force to be "the best in the country" and added it is "solving 50% more crime than last year".

"We're now moving towards the top third in the country, that's about a third away from where I want to be," said Mr Prophet. "But we've gone from the bottom nearly to the top third in the country in the last six to eight months, and the progress continues."

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Cllr David Herring asked about potential restructure, saying: "I do recall back in 2016, we had a government review about the number of forces, and at that time, I kind of remember there was talk of an East Anglia constabulary… Is there anything different in this round because I do remember it was rejected last time quite unanimously?"

The chief constable responded: "I sat on the review team in Essex, looking at the plans to merge Essex with Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. It was 2005-2006 under the then-Home Secretary Charles Clarke and that Labour government.

"It fell down because of the complexity of equalising council tax, and how you pay for the balancing up in those new areas. In regard to your question, has anything changed since the last time? I think the narrative of the Government now is that there are certain things which are just better arranged at a national level.

"Things like buying computers, buying kit and buying equipment, there must be some economy of scale is the government's argument, and I agree with that. There are certain things, from my perspective, it makes absolute sense not to do 43 times.

"Again, my perspective…there are certain things it doesn't make sense to do at a regional, sub-regional and national level, and that is delivering local policing, being accountable to local communities, accountable to local councillors like yourselves.

"If I were the chief constable of the eastern region, God forbid, you would have less access to me, I'd be less accountable to you and vice versa. So I think that's some of the tension that needs to be played out."