Residents are reported to be delighted with the outcome of Cllr Jonathon Seed’s lobbying of the Police and Crime Commissioner for more frontline police officers.
Following the decision by Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson to increase the precept for Wiltshire Police by an additional £24 a year, cllr Seed requested that instead of funding more traffic and firearms officers, more were put into community policing teams.
Cllr Seed, who sits on the Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel that scrutinises the work of the PCC asked Angus Macpherson to revise his plans for extra firearms and traffic officers. At the most recent meeting of the Police and Crime Panel the PCC responded to cllr Seed’s request by agreeing that a further 10 officers will be on the beat in Swindon and Wiltshire as a result of the increase in precept, as well as giving a personal assurance that firearms officers would be engaged in community policing.
Speaking after the meeting, cllr Seed said, “These extra feet on the beat are a victory for the people of Wiltshire and Swindon who are crying out for more visible policing and I hope to see some of these extra officers deployed here in Melksham.
“I am pleased that the PCC has listened to my request and diverted these vital new resources into front line policing, which is what residents are telling me they want.”
