THE team of police community support officers in Ilminster are making a real difference.
Beat manager PC Louise Wright told members of Ilminster Town Council last week that she was delighted with the impact they were making on local policing.
PCSO's John Martin, Beth Unthank and Charlotte Rogers will soon be joined by a fourth officer.
PC Wright said: "The PCSO's are making regular visits to schools and making patrols - they are a luxury we didn't have before.
"We have also received comments from people about the amount of times they have been seen, which is good.
"I will be hanging onto my PCSO's for dear life."
PCSO Martin has recently completed a tutor course which means future officers can be trained in Ilminster rather than at police headquarters in Portishead.
PC Wright said: "New PCSO's might come here to do their bread and butter on the spot training."
Cllr Kim Turner said: "It is great to see more PCSO's in the town."
The new PCSO will be joining the team in the next few weeks and PC Wright said he will be a great addition.
"He is Ilminster born and bred," she said. "He knows everyone in Ilminster, he knows everything about Ilminster and he knows everywhere in Ilminster."
Although she admitted that they cannot be everywhere all of the time', she added that they would be running a number of initiatives during the summer school holidays.
PC Wright told council'ors that recent crime statistics also showed that the PCSO's were making a difference.
During June there were 38 reported crimes in Ilminster of which seven were incidents of criminal damage. But up until Tuesday of last week there had only been 16 reported crimes and just one for criminal damage in July.
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