Dear Commissioner,
I am sure, like me, you have nothing but admiration for front line Police officers and staff as they have worked hard to cope at this particularly busy time, over the past few weeks. However, I suspect like me you have been contacted by a significant number of residents concerned about the Police response to the Rave at Charmy Down last weekend.
With the current forced closure of clubs and festivals, I am more concerned about how the force will respond to equivalent events in the immediate future. I agree with the Chief Constable when he states that it is much better to prevent the event happening in the first place than to try to stop it once underway: there are clearly lessons to be learnt from this and similar events in Bristol in recent weeks. With that in mind I would very much welcome a meeting to discuss your policy and the procedures in-place to make sure the Force has sufficient resources available to more fully exploit intelligence, prior to the event like the Charmey Down Rave. This should include alerting local landowners and farmers of any suspected locations near them.
Secondly, I would welcome a discussion on what measures are in place to serve as a deterrent for both Organisers, and Party Goers, as the event ends, such as convercation of equipment, breatherlising, drug swipes and the vigorous issuing parking tickets and the like.
These are matters of great public concern, as my in-box testfies. Being able to give clear answers based on a meeting with you would certainly help me to improve public confidence in the Police, something we must all strive to achieve.
Fare Thee Well,
Mark Shelford
