A WELL-respected member of the police force is retiring after 30 years of service to Newport and the rest of Gwent.

Chief Superintendent Julian Knight will be standing down after three decades of service to Gwent Police next month, and has thanked the people of Newport and beyond for their support ahead of his impending retirement.

Chief Supt Knight first joined the force in July 1985 and was stationed at Risca and Abercarn before being promoted to serve in Tredegar in 1991.

He later moved down to Newport where he eventually became chief superintendent and has since settled in the city, where many residents will know him from his time roaming the city streets.

Chief Supt Knight is the Head of Neighbourhood and Partnerships for Gwent Police, responsible for all territorial policing across the five unitary authorities of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen. He will be relinquishing those duties in July.

“I’ve lived in Newport since 2001 and most of my time has been spent working in various parts of the city,” he said. “Newport is a very diverse community. "People have told me that I can be a bit Newport-centric, and that may well be true.”

Mr Knight has overseen operations for the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort, and more recently was a police commander for the Nato summit last September, where he was also located at the Manor.

But there are other incidents that have stuck in the policeman’s memory even more.

“One of the big events was the Marlborough Road fire,” he recalled.

Part of Marlborough Road in the Maindee area of Newport was razed as a result of the fire which broke out in the Limebright Joinery in August 2007 destroying 13 homes and damaging many others.

The flames could be seen across the city and more than 100 people had to be evacuated from their homes.

An investigation by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety Executive found the cause of the fire to be accidental.

“We managed to evacuate everyone and thankfully everyone got out safely – miraculously no-one died,” he said.

“That was a big challenge for me and what it did was it gave me a big affection for the ethnic community and I was able to understand some of the tensions they faced. My work then concentrated more on creating harmony in those fractious communities.

“Newport has provided me with an opportunity to enjoy a great career and the way the community has been prepared to engage with us was typified by the threat of the English Defence League coming to Newport.

“The way the people of Newport and the community responded was such that they never came. I was proud to have been a part of that. Newport is a multi-cultured city and there is no place for ideologies like that here.”

Despite retiring next month, Mr Knight insists he will still be contributing to the community in Newport.

“My involvement with the city goes beyond my professional life,” he added.

“I’m a governor at Bassaleg Comprehensive School, and will soon be at Crindau Primary as well. I’m also chairman of Newport Swimming Club.

“Gwent needs Newport to be strong and vibrant. I’m fully in support of what the authority is doing to regenerate the city. I won’t stop contributing to the community here after my retirement.”