DESPITE a "bare bones" police force operating in the Maldon district, the amount of crime in the area has still dropped by four per cent over the past year.
This was the message delivered to members of the public as they gathered at Plume School this week for the first meeting with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Nick Alston.
Now approaching sixth months in office following his election last year, Mr Alston addressed a small but engaged group at the event on Monday to respond to local policing concerns.
However, although overall figures show that the Maldon district has one of the lowest crime rates in Essex, it was clear that there is still more to be done with a 19 per cent rise in assault, 44 more incidents of theft, and officers failing to hit response targets in 13.8 per cent of emergency calls over the past 12 months.
"There is still some real issues with policing the Dengie as a result of the low density of its population," said Mr Alston, following the event.
"But I thought it was a high-quality debate, albeit with a slightly smaller turnout than at our other meetings.
"My job is to hold the police to account and I will use the feedback from tonight."
The vast area of the Dengie was a major point of discussion at the two-hour meeting, as district commander Steve Ditchburn admitted there was a lack of resources to police the area.
"We are down to the bare bones in neighbourhood policing, there is no 'fat' left," he said. "I have finite resources and so I have to be strict in where I decide to put my officers but we are always contactable."
Responding to suggestions from a member of the public the commander also admitted more technology would assist in catching criminals, as it emerged the entire Dengie has just one ANPR, automatic number plate recognition, camera.
"If we had more of these cameras I believe it could have a massive impact on policing the peninsula as there are only so many roads leading in and out," he added.
The commissioner dedicated time to the rising number of burglaries in the county, a crime he confessed to suffering himself.
"When your home is burgled you feel completely violated. I remember well when it happened to me," he said.
However, the 60-year-old disagreed that time behind bars should be the default response. "Many have struggled with drug problems and this makes them more likely to get caught up in violence and crime.
"But if they leave prison after less than a year and there is no help afterwards then this just becomes a revolving door."
He was also quick to defend his decision not to set targets for bringing criminals to justice, despite perpetrators in just 22 per cent of burglaries being sanctioned in the district.
"I have not set targets as I've said for me the most important thing is to see crime going down, however that is achieved," he said.
But perhaps the most challenging question of the evening came from 13-year-old pupil Albert Rutter, who attended the meeting with fellow students from Ormiston Academy in Burnham on Crouch.
"Would you say policing is a complex or a complicated business?" asked the teen.
Following a few minutes' pause it was the district commander who delivered a response.
"Policing is a simple job, officers should look after the public and should treat every single one of them how they would treat their own mum.
"Our job is simply to make sure you're safe," said commander Ditchburn.
"But there is of course a complexity in that simplicity."
This was perhaps not the sort of concern Mr Alston had predicted when promising regular meetings with the public throughout his election campaign.
