Visit To Cheshire Police Headquarters

8 members of the club spent an evening  at the Cheshire Police HQ on 3rd December.
We were given a comprehensive overview of the activities coordinated from the HQ by an Inspector who obviously enjoyed the challenge of the job, in an environment which is continually changing.
We have all seen how the Dixon of Dock Green image has been completely overhauled, changing from the days when the only equipment carried by the "Bobby on the Beat" was a truncheon, to the massive amount of items they now carry on their belts and in their pockets.  It has moved from the days when they had to report in every hour from a phone box to today's situation whereby they can be in touch nationally, almost instantly, with relevant bodies, enabling them to keep up with fast moving crime.  How the vast amount of paperwork has been simplified.

We heard how even old methods have been updated, such as the greater significance of using dogs for more and more detection work, with different breeds having their own skills.  We learnt that a team of 700 voluntary horse riders are keeping their eyes on the countryside as they are out exercising, keeping their eyes open for suspicious sights.
It was however in the control rooms that we saw how their operations have changed from local, to area coordination, and how the old boundaries no longer apply.  We could see how the fund of experience built up by the operators enabled them to quickly direct the calls to the appropriate services.  We could see on the interactive maps exactly where cars and the police themselves were, so that the nearest resource could be brought into speedy response.
We learnt something of the efforts being made to adjust to the cost cutting budgetary controls introduced in recent years, often sharing resources with other authorities and making huge savings.
One thing that came over was, that in spite of the frustrations which inevitably incur in such a profession, there was a tremendous pride in the work they are doing and great satisfaction in the way they are developing the service which they provide.

John Fishburne