Happy New Year to all. I am grateful to the Herald for hosting this blog for me.
There is immense interest in policing across the country as there is in Plymouth. We have a very committed team of oficers, Special Constabulary, Police Staff, PCSO's, commercial partners and volunteers policing Plymouth. We work in close partnership with a wide range of groups across the City, all committed to bringing down crime and the fear of crime.
I will use this blog to raise areas of interest to members of the public and keep you abreast of some of the developments in Policing the City.
Given that today is the 2nd of January, I will start with some brief comments about New Years Eve. You may have seen the Herald's front page today talking about the numbers of people that were arrested. All our cells at Charles Cross were full and we opened (and filled) the custody centre at Crownhill.
Superintendent Andy Bickley is in charge of our Operational Policing and worked throughout New Years Eve. He has sent the message below out to our staff today:
"I had the pleasure of working operational shifts in the BCU over the festive period, including new years eve. I wish to share with all our staff , in all roles, who were on duty during this time the following message:
The volume, frequency and breath of demands on the BCU was at times striking, particualrly so from my personal experience between 0030-0700 on new years day. I could not fail to be impressed by your response to these demands. I witnesssed first hand your commitment,endeavour, professionalism and flexibility to adjust and re-adjust to changing situations all done with spirit and good humour.
Supervisory staff played a blinder. A real tangible sense of command and control of the airwaves; scene management; risk assessments and crucially much thought for the wellbeing of colleagues.To see so many working and leading in this way was a credit to you individually and collectively.
There will be other work to identify the lessons to be learnt and I am keen to ensure we do this. For now, I wanted to recognise and acknowledge the value of you, your work and what you do to make a difference. I look forward to policing Plymouth with you in 2008 and will do so with vigour and undiluted enthusiasm! My thanks to a top team."
Andy's comments reflect the feelings of all the Senior Management Team of Plymouth Police about the work of our staff. We are fully supported by a range of HQ specialist staff based in Plymouth. These include our custody teams, communications room staff and major investigation team detectives, all of whom have been very busy with us over the Christmas and New Year Period.
For your interest I have attached an image of the 2007 Herald front pages that relate to Policing matters, to give you a flavour of some of our work last year (click for a larger image).
Happy 2008
Jim Webster
Chief Superintendent
Plymouth Police
