SPECIALIST policing in Cleveland will receive a boost from today with a major shake-up of the force's internal structure.

Cleveland Police is restructuring its crime and operations and control toom departments by creating two new specialised units, called crime operations and specialist operations and communications, each managed by a chief superintendent.

The aim is to improve public safety, support frontline policing, tackle serious, organised crime and defeat terrorism.

Headed by Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite, the crime operations unit will focus on major crime.

He said: "Our streamlined structure will mean we can further focus on serious, organised crime and bolster our efforts to defeat terrorism. Previously, we successfully increased the capabilities and skills of the murder investigation team, through specialised training, exercises and awareness-raising, and we aim to build on this."

The force will have a detective chief inspector with responsibility for public protection, child abuse investigations, domestic violence, rape and other sexual assault inquiries.

"We've made significant improvements within the forensics arena, which has resulted in a quicker turnaround in processing evidence from crime scenes.

"We're also seeking to build on the success of the force's economic crime unit which, in partnership with the North-East asset recovery team, seized money and property valued at £1.83m from criminals last year."

Chief Superintendent Adrian Roberts will lead the specialist operations and communications department, with responsibility for specialist uniformed policing including the communications centre, firearms, dogs, mounted unit, road policing, air support, public order and emergency planning.

He said: "As well as playing a key role in supporting frontline officers, these units have a direct responsibility for targeting specialist policing problems in their own right."