Julie Spence: "My officers are not superhuman"

THE head of Cambridgeshire Police has passionately defended her force against a recent negative press reports, saying her staff are "not superhuman."

In her latest monthly podcast, published on the Cambridgeshire Police website, chief constable Julie Spence said: "What a torrid few weeks it's been.

"We've been taken to task over spending money on training, lambasted over losing property, castigated for our performance on custody and under fire for failing to answer a call promptly.

"If we made the mistake of judging our performance on media headlines alone we'd be right to think that we were doing an appalling job.

"And judging by a few comments on some websites, some of you clearly think we are.

"Of course, it would be easy to simply blame what the media call the silly season, but that would be wrong.

"Our newspapers and broadcasters in Cambridgeshire champion and support our crime fighting as energetically as they hold us to account."

Mrs Spence, who has frequently been tipped to become the first woman to become the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, the top job in British policing, has made a national name for herself speaking out about immigration and crime and the challenges of policing a multicultural society.

Her stance has made her a hero in the rightwing tabloid press.

She said: "There must come a time when we stop anguishing over being pilloried in public, accept that any large organisation is prone to individual error and do our utmost to ensure that the systems are in place to try to prevent a repeat.

"That's not being insensitive or uncaring, simply accepting of the fact that our primary task is not to keep worrying about the past but concentrate on ensuring a safer future for Cambridgeshire and trying to restore your confidence in us when it takes a knock.

"We will continue to challenge ourselves to ensure we give the best service we can, but please remember behind those uniforms staff are only human not superhuman.