James Cartlidge MP for South Suffolk took the opportunity to praise both the Suffolk Constabulary and Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore in the Policing debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday 4th November 2015.
In his speech Mr Cartlidge stated “I am proud that the Suffolk constabulary has excelled in delivering more for less, as we have asked it to do: it has delivered lower crime with lower funding”.
Referring to their leadership James added, “I pay particular tribute to the excellent leadership of our police and crime commissioner, Tim Passmore. He is a Suffolk farmer, and he has used his Suffolk farmer’s common sense to take effective, practical measures that have delivered savings while continuing to carry out excellent policing”.
In the face of cuts to their budget, Suffolk Constabulary have evolved to ensure that they are using new techniques and technologies to improve the service provided. Additionally, they have now established a dedicated rural crime unit which is getting good results on fly tipping, livestock rustling, and hare coursing.
Mr Cartlidge, whose constituency has experienced four church lead thefts since August including the latest in Hawkedon, also raised the matter of the recent crime wave across Suffolk in his speech. He explained that, “Unfortunately, the perpetrators of these crimes are still at large, although I know our rural crime unit is working hard to catch them. However, our churches have a duty to try to prevent this crime, as indeed do communities, because this sort of rural crime is almost impossible for the police to deal with.”
Installing an alarm system is the most effective manner of protecting church lead but Mr Cartlidge expressed his concern that the Ecclesiastical Insurance company has a list of just three providers of church alarms in the whole country, meaning that alarms can be very expensive. He added “I have received representations from firms that want to go on that list and I will be getting involved to make sure that they do.”