Meeting calls for village policing
By Jo Kowalski on Thursday, 12th July 2001.
PEOPLE worried their local bobby is being stretched too far met police chiefs to discuss the issue.
A public meeting was called last night after it emerged community beat officer Pc Peter Ferrie, who covers a number of villages, including Kedington, was having his beat expanded to include part of Haverhill.
The move has left rural communities fearful they will see their local bobby even less often than they already do.
St Edmundsbury district councillor Tony Sutton said: "Their concern is he will be doing too much to be able to do his job properly.
"I think the worry is the extra distances he has to cover. If word gets out he has these extra patrols, I feel the crime rate could go up because the villages are not being covered as well as they ought to be.
"I would like to see Pc Ferrie's beat reduced so he can spend more time in each village.
"There used to be a village bobby in every village and Kedington used to have its own police house but that has been sold off."
Around 1,000 concerned villagers signed a petition calling for the area their beat officer had to cover to be reduced.
On Monday night, parish councillors and other community representatives met with section commander Inspector Mike Bacon and Chief Superintendent Sylvia Pearce to discuss the issue. During the meeting police chiefs defended their decision to expand Pc Ferrie's beat.
Suffolk Police's western area commander, Chief Superintendent Sylvia Pearce, said the decision was taken because of the need to manage resources and the workload of beat officers. But she promised to review the decision and take into account the concerns and views of local people and their representatives.
A public meeting was called last night after it emerged community beat officer Pc Peter Ferrie, who covers a number of villages, including Kedington, was having his beat expanded to include part of Haverhill.
The move has left rural communities fearful they will see their local bobby even less often than they already do.
St Edmundsbury district councillor Tony Sutton said: "Their concern is he will be doing too much to be able to do his job properly.
"I think the worry is the extra distances he has to cover. If word gets out he has these extra patrols, I feel the crime rate could go up because the villages are not being covered as well as they ought to be.
"I would like to see Pc Ferrie's beat reduced so he can spend more time in each village.
"There used to be a village bobby in every village and Kedington used to have its own police house but that has been sold off."
Around 1,000 concerned villagers signed a petition calling for the area their beat officer had to cover to be reduced.
On Monday night, parish councillors and other community representatives met with section commander Inspector Mike Bacon and Chief Superintendent Sylvia Pearce to discuss the issue. During the meeting police chiefs defended their decision to expand Pc Ferrie's beat.
Suffolk Police's western area commander, Chief Superintendent Sylvia Pearce, said the decision was taken because of the need to manage resources and the workload of beat officers. But she promised to review the decision and take into account the concerns and views of local people and their representatives.
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