In preparation for this we have already frozen recruitment and are offering early retirement packages, but in order to ensure that the best possible level of service is maintained we are working with our partners (West, South and North Yorkshire Police) on a regional basis, such as the Regional Roads Traffic Unit, and scientific support services. By sharing resources such as staff, equipment and buildings we hope to minimise the effects of the potential cutbacks.

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for your question, you make a very good point. Frontline policing is one of my priorities and is also the priority for the Home Secretary. PCSOs are the very front of the frontline policing. Whilst I cannot guarantee that the PCSOs will not be cut, they will definitely not be the first thing to go. The priorities will be assessed depending on the consultation exercise including your own comments which I welcome.

Hi Emma,

Thank you very much for sending in your comments. As someone who has been involved in my community for a number of years as a councillor I share your concerns about the police and know how valued PCSOs can be in places like schools and youth clubs. Although it would be unfair of me to talk about salaries and top jobs I can assure you that one of the first things I would like to look at before we consider any 'front line cuts' is to see how we can reduce other costs which will include management, cars etc. Pensions are more difficult as these are set nationally and, to be fair to the police officers themselves, they do pay around 11.5% superannuation into their pension funds so are entitled to expect something back. I have said that I believe that protecting PCSO's and police officers is a priority and receiving comments like yours, which show how valuable you find them, is an important part of the fact finding we are undertaking before we make any decisions.      

Thank you for your comments about PCSO's and bicycles. We invested money in PCSO's because we felt they were extremely important in reducing the fear of crime; talking to residents is a vital part of achieving this. Its a bit disappointing to learn that you aren't able to talk to the PCSO's in your area and this is the first time I have heard this concern. I don't know what has happened over the last 9 months to change things but I will be talking to the Chief Constable this week and will pass on this concern to him and ask what the reasons are and what he will be doing to make sure people in Brumby can strike up a conversation with their PCSOs.  

Thanks for your question Steven. Many years ago when the police didn't have radios and computers a great deal of what they did was self generated and relied almost entirely on 'gut feeling' and what they came across on the beat. These days a great deal of police work comes about from calls the public make; for example last month the police in this area received nearly 13,000 999 calls and almost 22,000 non emergency calls which makes the working day of the police very busy. When they attend these calls the police do use their initiative to resolve the problems and achieve some very impressive results. However we do live in a world where there are many rules and regulations that have to be followed and the police are no exceptions here. For example, when making the decision to chase a stolen car the police have to be very careful that any action they take does not lead to injury or death of anyone. Also the law itself (which the police can't change and have to comply with) does place lots of constraints on them. Having said all of that I have seen some marvellous examples of initiative and bravery carried out everyday by police officers and PCSOs which very often doesn't receive any publicity and of which the staff themselves simply regard as just doing their job. A good example of these have been the 'undercover' or 'covert' drugs operations the police have ran which often put the officers themselves in very unpleasant or even dangerous positions.    

Thank you for your comments about press stories. Like you, I'd also like to see a bit some more successes in the media. As I have mentioned in one of my other replies, I know the force employ some very hard working press officers. However, the newspapers, TV and radio will sometimes run these stories in a completely different way and they end up appearing quite negative when they are published.  I do think that as well as publishing success it is right in a democratic society like ours that, if the police don't get things right, they get some criticism. All that I would ask for is fair and balanced reporting. My personal aim over the next year will be to get more good news stories in the media.

On that note I'd like to personally thank the media who covered 'The BIG Conversation' story and the launch of the 'Policing in the 21st Century' Survey, we've had a lot of constructive responses as a result.

You raise a good point. Ideally, to maximise visibility and value for money, PCSOs would patrol singly, Humberside Police have worked very hard to make sure that a single patrol policy is adopted where possible. Certainly, in my own rural areas PCSOs tend to patrol on their own, however, I understand that this could be different in the urban areas and at different times during the day.

Thanks for your question about putting officers on the beat. I think 'bobbies on the beat' is one of those issues which always raises lots of public comments and views. I think it is very important that we have police officers and PCSOs out of vehicles and on foot and this is an issue I often speak to the Chief Constable and his senior officers about. Walking the beat is a very effective way of communicating with the public. With over 1,300 square miles to cover and nearly 62,000 '999' calls since 1st April this year, the reality is that a great deal of police work has to be done in cars. The public very rightly expect the police to get there quickly when there is an emergency and it simply would not be effective to do most police work on foot. Having said all of that it is still important to keep staff on foot when not answering 999 calls, and that is why we introduced neighbourhood policing teams and PCSOs. I also know that, sometimes, the officers will get in the car and drive to an area, lock the car and walk the beat, that often happens in rural areas.Regarding cars in the station last week, the police work a shift system in which they have more staff on duty at certain times to handle different volumes of calls - it could be that at 19.30hrs they don't need as many cars on the road so they will be parked up in the yard.     

Thank you for your positive comments. It is always nice to hear from members of the public who are satisfied with the service provided by Humberside Police. Alcohol banning orders can cover large geographical areas and impact on high numbers of people, this can sometimes make enforcement of such orders logistically difficult, however, once an order is secured all police officers and PCSOs responsible for covering the area are made aware of the order as is the local authority and other relevant bodies in order to try to maximise the effectiveness of the order. This is something we have tried to address in conjunction with our partners in the commercial sector, such as supermarkets, selling cut price alcohol as loss leaders.