I read Mr Baker's letter regarding the PCSOs in Gloucestershire with incredulity. Without going into the statistics regarding the effectiveness of policing in Gloucestershire, all of which show a marked reduction of crime of all kinds, I would like to assure him that the PCSOs are doing a first class job and the last thing we should be doing is denigrating their performance.
As High Sheriff (I stepped down last week) I had an opportunity to witness the Gloucestershire Constabulary at all levels. This included an evening spent with Constable Rob Dix in a police car last Friday evening. There were three PCSOs on duty in Lydney that night – they were Mary Skinner, Natalie Thomas and Mark Robertson. By the time I went home at 11pm they were still on duty after some ten hours.
They had detained one youth for criminal damage, breaking a shop window, and had also attended to two young girls who had consumed far too much alcohol and needed medical attention. I am also aware of the beneficial impact that community policing has had in the Sedbury area, with a marked reduction in anti-social behaviour.
No doubt Mr Baker was sitting in front of his television at the time, thinking of another way of slating our police service for not patrolling the parking arrangements for him when he goes shopping in Newerne Street. My impression of the police during my year as High Sheriff is that they do a very professional job and with the help of some high-tec equipment, crime rates are falling and detection rates rising. The media will always focus on the failures, but we should be pleased that we can sleep more safely in our beds, despite the fact that we do not see many bobbies on the beat any more. Crime rates were much higher in the days when we did. – Brian Thornton, Aylburton.