Brighton and Hove's new police chief has said there will be no major changes in the way the city's force goes about its job - for now.

Superintendent Paul Pearce was named as the divisional commander for Brighton and Hove three weeks ago and said he wants to reduce crime in the city even further despite saying it is relatively low for its population and the fact it has millions of visitors each year.

He said: "If you go to somewhere where performance is bad and moral is low and things aren't going well, then there's pressure on you to act quickly.

"If you go to somewhere where performance is good and things are working then the pressure is on you not to act too quickly. It gives you that bit of breathing space where you can sit on your hands and just watch what's going on, get a feel for what's going on and then perhaps after three months you might identify some things where you can improve.

"I certainly haven't come here and thought there is a need to do anything rash.

"What I want to do is build on what other people have done here and try to make that as seamless as possible."

After starting his career as a beat bobby in the city in 1979, Supt Pearce has served in a wide variety of roles with Sussex Police.

He comes to Brighton and Hove after 18 months as head of the operations department and although not wanting to be radical he still has objectives.

Supt Pearce said: "The three clear priorities for us is the fight against drugs and drug supply. To tackle alcohol related crime and also to work on youth disorder that is predominately created by young people - that is not to demonise young people but there is a small minority we will be looking at."

The approach of his officers will be one of discretion when dealing with all crime, from not wearing a seatbelt to smoking cannabis on the beach.

He said: "Our officers have discretion on how they're going to deal with criminal offences, what they don't have is discretion with the law.

"Not everybody can be arrested but police officers have got a whole range of discretions from arrest to giving advice."

He emphasised that his officers would not ignore people breaking the law stressing it was important for the public seeing the police "do the jobs we are paid to do".

He said: "We do have to have this discretion but we will deal with people who have broken the law. That doesn't mean we arrest everybody we can get, though, what we are not going to do is ignore people committing crimes."

Supt Pearce hit the headlines in 2005 when he was one of the officers in charge of the security operation surrounding the Labour Party conference in Brighton.

He was later given "advice" about his conduct while off duty when it was discovered they had been drinking earlier in the day.

They were not accused of being drunk or unfit for duty.

Supt Pearce did not want to comment specifically on the incident but added later: "The chief constable has shown confidence in my ability to do the job and that's good enough for me."

What do you think should be Supt Pearce's main objectives in the city? Leave your comments below.