The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Long Sutton is being “short-changed” when it comes to policing according to an angry resident.
The man, who has asked not to be named, says despite a recent spate of burglaries in the town, he rarely sees a police officer and police are not warning residents in general about the problem.
In a letter to The Voice, the resident said: “I myself know of three incidents, and even though one was only one door away from me I did not see or hear from the police.
“Long Sutton residents pay in excess of a quarter of a million pounds towards policing and we have an almost non-existent presence – I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen a police officer in Long Sutton in the last year.
“Now we have focused criminal activity being carried out that police are aware of, yet nothing is being done to communicate with residents, many of whom are elderly and vulnerable.
“Burglary is a horrible crime which leaves people feeling scared and vulnerable, with anyone who is aware (which is word of mouth at the moment) looking over their shoulder and scared to leave their homes for fear that they might be next.
“My main concern is that Long Sutton is short changed on its policing – every year we seem to put plenty into the pot but get little return for this investment. And when we need it most, no action plan, non-existent communication and no advice – that surely cannot drain the police fund too much!”
The resident claims he has contacted the police with his concerns but has had no response, however a Lincolnshire Police spokesman says they have responded both by email and in person.
Police confirmed there were five burglaries and one attempt reported in Long Sutton since December 1 but say they dealt with the situation carefully so as not to cause unnecessary fear of crime or jeopardise investigation into the offences.
The spokesman said: “We released information via Lincs Alert, Twitter and to parishes for newsletters and noticeboards on January 6 after three reported burglaries. At this point we felt it was proportionate to make the community aware as they were not one-off incidents.”
Police say they had an idea who the suspects were and felt a public message would help in arresting the offenders, which is what happened.
The spokesman added that the Neighbourhood Policing team are in Long Sutton on a daily basis and patrol officers, who cover the area from Holbeach Police Station, are responsible for responding to incidents in the area.
