Keep our vital frontline Police Response Teams in Lampeter, Aberaeron and Cardigan! Cancel the dangerous downgrading of frontline Police Response in Mid and South Ceredigion! 

Dyfed Powys Police are planning to permanently remove our vital frontline Police Response Teams from Lampeter, Aberaeron and Cardigan Police Stations and replace them with only ONE dedicated officer per shift who will be based in Newcastle Emlyn. This one officer will single-handedly need to respond to all incidents in the three towns and the wider rural area of Mid & South Ceredigion. 

This risky reconfiguration of local police services is due to be implemented in November 2021 before the new Chief Constable Dr Richard Lewis comes into post. 

But as of 3/10/21 there has been no public announcement of this decision, and no consultation with the communities affected. 

Police Response Officers provide the first frontline response to a wide range of incidents, including complex and sometimes confrontational situations. They are required to get to incidents quickly, take initial control and assess any immediate threats or risk of harm (and in some cases, potentially apply first aid), deal with offenders, and then update and liaise with senior colleagues and other agencies such as the fire and ambulance service. They are our first responders to emergency incidents. www.joiningthepolice.co.uk/training-progression/career-progression/role-spotlights/response-officer 

The distance from Newcastle Emlyn to Cardigan is 10.6 miles (up to 22 minutes journey time), to Aberaeron 18 miles (up to 28 minutes), and to Lampeter 18.9 miles (up to 34 minutes journey time). But if the dedicated officer has to get from an incident in Lampeter to an incident in Cardigan to respond to an emergency he or she would need to travel 29 miles, a journey time of up to 45 minutes. And if that officer is occupied dealing with one incident, what will happen if other emergencies are called in at the same time? 

In one incident in January 2021, the Police Response Team in Cardigan were praised for saving the life of a critically ill man, carrying out CPR for 45 minutes while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. These and other life-saving actions would be compromised within this planned reconfiguration of response team services. www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/cardigan-police-praised-for-carrying-out-cpr-for-45-minutes-on-critically-ill-man/

Further, the downgrading of the service to only one dedicated officer per shift is unsafe and comprises an inadvisable risk for the individual officers concerned. 

Over recent years the Police Precept on our council tax bills has risen sharply to protect police services, 10.7% in 2019, 4.8% in 2020 and 5.76% in 2021. But we can see that police services are clearly NOT being protected, they are in fact being downgraded, and this leaves our communities extremely vulnerable to risks to life, property, and the maintenance of law and order. Downgrading such a vital frontline service is not acceptable.  

Therefore we, the undersigned, demand that the Temporary Chief Constable, the Temporary Deputy Chief Constable, and the Police & Crime Commissioner of Dyfed Powys Police cancel the dangerous downgrading of our Police Response Teams in Cardigan, Aberaeron and Lampeter Police Stations. 

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