Reader's view by Sonia Mills, of Braintree<.b> Founder of the Save Essex Police Mounted Unit campaign UPON hearing about the proposed disbanding of the mounted unit, a friend and I decided that it was too much of a publicly-respected unit to allow it to go without putting up some kind of opposition.
Unfortunately, and to our great sadness, having gathered and submitted more than 5,000 paper signatures, more than 800 online signatures and a Facebook page followed by more than 1,200 supporters to the chief constable, the decision was still made by the Essex Police Authority to disband the unit.
The authority is set to be replaced by the new Police and Crime Commissioner, who will be elected on November 15.
It is a sad day for the Essex community as the last, highly-visible police presence has just been stripped from our streets.
I do not know the last time I saw a police car, or a policeman for that matter, since the new Essex police blueprint came into effect, and I wonder at how informed and aware the Essex public are to the new "borderless" policing as part of the force's restructure to tackle huge budget cuts.
Since that final decision we have spoken to many of the Essex public and, along with them, cannot believe that we are losing what is a highly visible and versatile unit.
I am unaware of another unit that engages with the general public on a daily basis, come rain or shine, and wherever they go, are always surrounded by people wanting to see the horses and speak to the officers.
In the current climate, with Essex Police being under the spotlight with recent findings from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, you would have thought that a unit creating such good PR for the force would be utilised much more, rather than being disbanded.
We, the Essex public, are losing a unit with the capability of visiting schools and interacting with schoolchildren, to then being deployed to a full scale riot, and everything possible in between.
You may ask what the likelihood is of a full-scale riot in Essex, but with the current economic downturn, families getting poorer and racial tensions increasing, this threat has moved to the forefront more than ever and I, for one, would welcome the reassurance that Essex have a mounted unit to deploy in such situations.
We are aware of the required budget cuts and understand that it is a difficult decision for the chief constable, however, if you add up the sponsorship the unit receives and the fact that they work for other forces, bringing in revenue – as I can't imagine Essex Police offer this service for free – this must reduce the outlay somewhat.
You cannot put a price on a unit that has the proven versatility that the mounted unit does and is the best PR tool that Essex Police will ever have.
What the public want to see are police on the streets, making them feel safe and reassured and tackling antisocial behaviour, not single-crewed police cars rushing around the county with little time to interact with the public on a daily basis.
I, along with so many others, feel that this is a short-sighted decision made quickly before the introduction of the new Police and Crime Commissioner, who is supposedly going to be the voice of the Essex public and would have, hopefully, had some strong opposing thoughts to that of the chief constable.
As a member of the campaign fighting to retain this valuable resource, we would ask the public, if you oppose this decision to disband the unit, to e-mail or write to the chief constable, voicing your opinions, something that many have already done.
