Bedfordshire Police hosted the Mayor of Leighton Linslade, the Town Clerk, the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner and South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous at Bossard House this morning to see the new base for the town’s community team.
Speaking afterwards, Andrew Selous said,
“It was very good to see enhancements which have been made in terms of police IT and usable space since my last visit. Bossard House is now the home for the town’s community team and I look forward to the team being brought up to full establishment by the end of January. It was also good to hear that response times in Central Bedfordshire are now the same as in Luton and Bedford Borough. I want to see more special constables operating out of Bossard House and the establishment of a front desk, staffed by volunteers that the public can talk to.
There are some further upgrades to telephony needed which should be made soon which will help make officers more contactable by the public. It was good to hear that Central Bedfordshire Council housing officers will now also be hosting surgeries at Bossard House with the police and I look forward to more joint community working of this nature.
We are not where I want us to be in terms of police numbers in the town nor in terms of a 24/7 presence but we are definitely making progress which I expect to continue as more of the record 1,456 police officers in Bedfordshire finish their training and become more deployable. I also expect more of that training to happen in Leighton Buzzard and not just in Luton and Bedford.”