Witham: MP goes out on patrol with police (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Witham: MP goes out on patrol with police

9:29am Friday 28th September 2012 in News

MP Priti Patel described a Friday night patrol with police as an “incredible eye opener.”
The politician spent two hours with officers responding to calls in and around North Essex and plans to write to Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle about her experience.
She praised the officers and hopes to go out on patrol again before Christmas.
She said: “It was an incredible eye opener in terms of the work of police and how they are used.
“The type of calls they get is of interest for me.
“They dealt with a lot of personal problems, from mental health to domestic abuse, as oppose to standard bread and butter crime, that was quite interesting to see.
“They are in working in challenging and difficult times, I have to say, and we really should be very grateful for all that they do.
“I will be writing to the chief constable following my patrol [last] Friday night to follow up a couple of issues.”
When asked about resources, particularly response teams covering Witham, she added that the police are stretched and it will take time to get used to the changes.”
Ms Patel has also written to the East of England Ambulance service about changes to the rotas which mean Witham will lose 28 hours of rapid response time from October 1.