A SERVING police officer has blown the whistle on the shocking reality of the "thin blue line" in Bromsgrove.

And he claims it's so thin it has almost vanished!

The situation is even more worrying as the officer says good luck and not any grand master plan drawn up by local police bosses ensures the service continues to function.

The officer, who has declined to be named for fear of victimisation, spoke out exclusivley to us after his conscience troubled him when he read in last week's Advertiser/Messenger that West Mercia police chiefs claimed there is an increase in bobbies on the beat.

The officer says the sorry truth is that most nights, after midnight, just two officers cover the whole of the Bromsgrove town area, Rubery, Barnt Green, Romsley, Stoke Prior and other outlying rural communities.

And if back-up is needed Redditch has only four officers to cover a population of close on 100,000.

In a statement to the Advertiser/Messenger the officer says it is "galling" that police chiefs are misleading the public into thinking it is getting a quality service.

"The truth is the thin blue line is now so thin in places it has simply vanished.

"What the citizens of Bromsgrove and Redditch should know is that more often than not while they sleep peacefully, secure in the belief their streets are being kept safe by a well staffed, motivated police force, the opposite is true."

"Policing works in this division not because of any government initiative or business plan invoked by Redditch command, but because we have been lucky and have managed to keep the wheel on."

Replying Dave Willets, who is chief inspector, support services, said across the force area there are 2,151 officers an increase of 149 on last October.

In Redditch and Bromsgrove there has been an increase of 30 officers since April this year, however the majority are new and still being trained.

He went on: "We analyse the number of staff needed to cover our area and manage our resources to the best of our ability, this includes having officers on duty at the right times to deal with incidents and calls for assistance.

"Information has shown we do not necessarily need large numbers of officers working all night every night, but for busier periods such as Friday and Saturday nights numbers are increased."

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