Statement from Commissioner re recent comments from Reform MP

A statement from Darryl Preston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire in response to recent comments made by the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, Sarah Pochin.

“I note with interest recent comments made during a BBC interview by a Reform MP in relation to female police officers stating they should be accompanied by a great big strapping male and are more suited to dealing with children and quote ‘battered wives’.

“We are of course all entitled to our views so here is mine, based on personal experience and nothing at all to do with political correctness.

“I have been in policing for 40 years, many of them on the front line in London and Cambridgeshire. I have had the privilege to serve with some great police officers, male and female. I have dealt with hundreds of potentially violent situations, including Friday night pub fights. On many of those occasions I was accompanied by a female officer. I cannot recall one, single incident where I felt more vulnerable having a female police officer with me. In fact, the complete opposite is true. I can, however, recall some occasions when I felt more vulnerable when accompanied by a male officer.

“Female police officers in Cambridgeshire and across the country have my full support and respect. They put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe, and trust me, based on my significant policing experience, they are in every way as capable (and sometimes more) as men.”