I had to reply to the total nonsense written by Cliff Vivien in the letters section of the Post dated June 8, 2009 relating to the work of the PCSOs within the police force. This gentleman either has no concept of their role or has been misinformed by his brother who he claims is a serving police officer.

I have worked with PCSOs at Fishponds Police Station almost since their incepton and whilst I can't speak for all officers, I have personally found them to be some of the most dedicated and professional officers on the district. It's not their role to be crimefighters, their roles are to free up regular police officers, provide a high-visible presence on the street and give public reassurance, a job they do to the highest standard. It's a misconception that police work is all about crimefighting, it's a lot more involved than that and, at times, requires an ongoing commitment, through no other reason that there is always another job around the corner. Officers sometimes only ever get the chance to put a sticky plaster over some of the problems we incur and the role of the PCSO allows us to give that person a more dedicated service, a friendly face and a point of contact where in the past there was none.

I extend an open invitation to Cliff Vivien to contact me at Fishponds Police Station and I will personally show him how the role of the PCSOs at Fishponds have enhanced their respective communities and freed up regular officers to do the core policing roles. I won't show him how we measure their success because you can't measure what you can't see and that's the reduction in the amount of mundane work they take off of the regular officers. I bet his brother doesn't complain about that.

PC Martin Hudd.