A HIGH turnover of bobbies-on-the-beat and senior police officers, plus a boom in drug gangs, were the main concerns raised at a public meeting in Southend.

The county’s new Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle, who is just a week-and-a-half into the job, was in town for the first time to take part in the gathering at the Civic Centre.

At one point he was apologetic about the problem of the consistently changing faces of local police officers and said it was something he was concerned about and would look to address.

During the meeting, residents raised several subjects and a community worker, who asked not to be named, was particularly worried about a network of drug dealers who were operating in the area.

He said: “I have been aware in the last couple of months of an increased activity in drug dealing which is gang related.

“Because of my work in the community I am aware of a number of people who have been intimidated and have been victims of violence.

“Some would not report it so it doesn’t appear in the stats. I would like to know what the police are doing about it and how can we, as members of the public, help?”

Southend Supt Gwynneth Williams responded by saying: “We are aware of the increased activity in this area, particularly over the last few months. We have taken a number of steps in relation to ensuring the streets are safe.”

She also said the police were working closely with the council, but did not elaborate on what “steps” had been put in place.

She did advise informants to call Crimestoppers anonymously if they did not want to talk to the police for fear of reprisals.

The subject of high staff turn-over of senior police officers in Southend was another hot topic.

Councillor David Norman, who represents Victoria ward, also said he was very concerned about the changing faces of neighbourhood specialist officers for his ward.

In the past two years PC Simon Laurie was replaced by PC Wayne Hallett who was then drafted across to the burglary squad.

The replacement, PC Hugh Weeks, has also moved on to new pastures at the Metropolitan police and the job is now vacant.

He said: “We would love to hear an assurance the turnover over the last couple of years is going to slow down and we are going to get people on the ground who are going to be with us for some time.”

Southend central Insp Matt Bennett said they were a victim of recruiting the best people who are then snapped up by other departments.

He said: “I can only offer you my sincere apology.

“I don’t like it, I’ve got to accept it. We have to look at not getting the same problem again while still getting very fine officers to do the job.”

The role of sergeant in the south-eastern division’s licensing department has also remained vacant since the beginning of the year.

Mr Barker-McCardle, 48, said: “There’s a harsh reality there will always be some churn. But if there’s regular churn in the police it doesn’t lend itself to establishing relationships which are a very important part of neighbourhood policing at the local level.”

He also told the meeting he had a bicycle and plans to get out on the streets of Essex to meet as many local people as he can.

He said: “I’m not going to sit here and pretend for one moment that 11 days in Essex means I’m an expert on all things policing in Essex. I’ve got a lot to do in meeting people and working with partnerships, and to understand more of the Essex Police issues.

“Good timely local information, provided that it’s kept up to date, is really important in the context of good policing and also in supporting good local confidence.”