FENLAND: Is the policing pledge worth anything?

YOUR paper carried a very interesting full page advertisement placed by the Home Office on behalf of Cambridgeshire Police. Amongst other things, it contained a Policing Pledge which Cambs Police have signed up to itemising operational commitments to the

YOUR paper carried a very interesting full page advertisement placed by the Home Office on behalf of Cambridgeshire Police.

Amongst other things, it contained a Policing Pledge which Cambs Police have signed up to itemising operational commitments to the local community they serve.

Item 3 of that pledge says 'Ensure your Neighbourhood Police Team and other police patrols are visible and on your patch at times when they will be most effective and when you tell us you most need them'.

Considering I've been having dialogue with Insp Sullivan the Sector Insp and others at Cambs Police for some time about an inadequate police presence on the streets at 3am when the clubs and late pubs close and the subsequent anti social behaviour and criminal damage such as shop window smashing.

I wonder if this pledge isn't going to be worth the paper it's written on.

Previously, the sort of response I've had to complaints about the the inadequacy of policing when they are needed, ranges from lack of resources to the fact that the force shift patterns end rather conveniently at 2am.

Will this new pledge really make a difference to policing in this area or is it just another expensive PR campaign to keep the natives happy whilst relieving them of their taxes most of which go to pay for salaries and generous pensions.

REG KEMP

Scargells Lane

March