Force hits back at ‘frontline’ criticism

In yesterday’s report from police watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Beds Police was revealed as having less than ten per cent of its officers ‘on the front line’.

Front line is defined as officers and PCSOs who respond to 999 calls and patrol neighbourhoods, officers in forensics, investigation and surveillance, and a proportion of ‘middle office’ roles, such as custody suite officers and control room operators.

Few forces scored much higher, however, with the average proportion of frontline officers coming in at 12 per cent.

Beds Police Deputy Chief Constable John Fletcher said his force’s various specialist units had not been recognised.

He said: “When frontline specialist units, which HMIC itself recognises as public-facing, are included in that equation, our own local assessment shows we are comparable with some neighbouring forces, actually recording 15.3 per cent availability.

“Bedfordshire has different challenges and demands placed on it compared with other forces of a similar size – these require us to police the county in a very different way. The use of specialist units is therefore essential to reduce the threat, risk and harm to our communities.

“Serious crime, counter-terrorism and policing challenges at locations such as London Luton Airport all require a public facing frontline response, which is exactly what is received; it is just not reflected in this report.”