FROM PCSO SARAH PILCHER I have been asked by one of “my” villagers if I could write a piece with regard to my role as a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) from a personal perspective. I hope the following will serve. When first starting my role as a PCSO assigned to the Dorchester Rural West beat I thought it would be quiet and not particularly busy. Now after four years I realise how wrong I was, there are just not enough hours in the day. The area I cover is quite large and varied encompassing part of the Chesil Bank coastal area and inland areas including Cerne Valley, Frome Valley and the Maiden Newton and Martinstown areas. But I am blessed with ‘my’ lovely villages and villagers and I feel it is really quite a privilege to be able to ‘look after’ such a beautiful region. My duties are diverse and, by necessity, fairly variable day-to-day. As well as foot patrol, which I feel I don’t do enough of sometimes, dealing with anti-social behaviour by any age group, gathering information from the community, dealing with abandoned and untaxed vehicles, and myriad other tasks. There are also ever increasing community engagements. These may include one to one visiting with someone, PACT (Partners and Communities Together) surgeries, PACT van visits, village events, group talks, attending multi-agency meetings with housing associations, local councillors, community workers, etc. With regard to crime I do get quite protective when I hear of break-ins etc happening in my area. I was speaking with a gentleman the other day and we agreed that due to the fantastic area we live in we can get quite complacent about leaving buildings unlocked, items in gardens on view and so on. But there are opportunist and professional thieves out there, so please, please do all you can all the time to secure your home and land. If you need any advice then do get in touch with myself or my colleagues and we will be happy to help. The various contact methods are listed below. Thank- you for reading this little piece about me and my job and I look forward to catching up with