Questions on (From Warrington Guardian)

Questions on

London events

are answered

IT is now almost five weeks since the London bombings and their aftermath and Cheshire Police have been inundated with questions on safety issues from the public.

Asst Chf Con Garry Shewan is leading the police response to the recent events in London and can now answer some of these questions.

Q: Visible police patrols have increased in many areas since the London bombings, is this because there is a threat to Cheshire?

A: Concerns about safety are high in the aftermath of the July 7 bombing and the attempts on July 21, so across the country the police are being vigilant.

High visibility patrols are aimed at reassuring local people.

Q: Armed patrols have also been seen locally - is this normal?

A: Cheshire has a number of trained firearms officers who routinely patrol the area and respond to incidents where weapons have been reported. We have asked them to support British Transport Police by including railways stations in their daily patrol.

Q: There has been national media speculation that the bombings will cause community divisions. Is that happening here?

A: I have spoken to many community leaders, including faith leaders, councillors and people at police forums and it is accepted that the people who committed the murders in London do not represent any religious faith or racial group.

People are sensible and realistic - they know at times like this, community cohesion is important and makes people feel more seucre.

Q: Have you seen more hate crime in this area since July 7?

A: There has been no significant increase in racial incidents in this area, although we are keeping a close eye on everything that is reported to us. Hate crimes will not be tolerated.

Q: Will the police be stop checking more people from minority ethnic backgrounds?

A: Security comes from public and police vigilance and there will be occasions when the police use stop-checks to identify offenders. I have assured local people that they will not be targeted because of their appearance or faith.

Q: Have Cheshire officers been involved in the national police response to events in London?

A: We currently have officers who are working with other police forces on enquiries relating to the incidents in London. Twelve specialist officers have been loaned to the national effort.

Q: What lessons have been learned by the police service from these events?

A: There are two issues that have been highlighted.

The first is that the services in London were able to respond magnificently to the bombing because they had well-worked out emergency plans that involved all of the London agencies.

We too have reviewed our state of readiness and have made sure our emergency plans would be as robust.

Second is that local communities continue to be very understanding and supportive of law enforcement.