NEW Wimmera Superintendent Graham Kent will oversee ongoing changes to investigative units in the division.
Mr Kent, who started before Christmas, said there would be structural changes to areas such as the Crime Investigation Unit and Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team.
Similar units across Victoria Police are moving towards what Mr Kent called an 'advanced investigative model' and those in the Wimmera would follow suit.
"It changes things around the first response, initial investigation, priorities and how the longer-term investigations are managed," he said.
"If we put that within the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team area and family violence context, those areas will have an increasing focus for resources and investigations.
"This is part of a continuing roll-out of the new way of doing work in Victoria Police in the past couple of years."
Mr Kent also confirmed that planned renovations to Horsham Police Station cells were due to start at the end of the month.
"It's about complying with standards and safety and it will not really affect capacity," he said.
Building works have started at Stawell Police Station, which will hold people for short periods while Horsham's cells are being improved.
Mr Kent said another focus area was emergency management, where police worked with other agencies.
"It's about our capacity and capability for emergency management response during the fire season," he said.
"What I have liked about here is the professionalism of the agencies and terrific response of our people when there have been fires."
Police will continue to help fire authorities to monitor high-risk areas during the bushfire season, such as the Grampians.
Members will also keep an eye on a potential firebug in the Wimmera.
Mr Kent said he was also prioritising road safety.
"What I am seeing in terms of enforcement activity is encouraging and we can expect that to continue and maybe increase," he said.
"Our record in the past few months around road trauma is okay, but we need to respond and improve as a community.
"There does seem to be a general adherence to speed limits in particular.
"But there are still too many people who ignore that.
"We are also concerned about mobile phone use, fatigue and the impact of those things."
Mr Kent said he had been settling well into the Wimmera and both his colleagues and the wider community were welcoming.
He replaces Superintendent Graeme Arthur, who became Knox Superintendent in Melbourne.
