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Howell delivers on
police pledge
On Saturday 5
July, Henley’s newly elected MP, John Howell, delivered on his
election promise to go out on the beat with the police in
Henley.
As 5 July was the Saturday of Regatta Week, there was a
considerable police presence in the town and on the regatta
site, co-ordinated through a multi-agency command centre.
After visiting the command centre to see how officers used
intelligence about potential trouble hot-spots and
trouble-makers to head off problems before they reached the
town, John accompanied Sergeant Keith Stacey on a walk-about
around the town centre.
John commented:
“During the two hours on Saturday evening I spent with the
police there was a good atmosphere in town. Despite the amount
of alcohol which people had clearly consumed, I did not see any
serious incidents.
“What I did
see was a very strong level of co-operation and genuine
partnership working between the police and local licensees to
ensure that problems could be stopped before they arose.
“I still remain concerned at the way the police often don’t seem
to be getting the right tools at the right time to do the job
and that they are too often tied up with red tape and form
filling. However, this should not take away from the work of
individual officers and police stations which have been
developing successful neighbourhood initiatives such as those I
saw working well on Saturday night.”
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