Policing Hampshire in Covid has been 'super tough' with 'challenging winter' ahead

It comes as readers of The News backed Hampshire police’s service in the pandemic, ranking the quality of their work higher than that of hospitals.

Around 60 per cent of the 1,000 people who took our Big Conversation survey said police including emergency services had done a good or very good job between lockdown starting and September.

In an exclusive interview, Hampshire Constabulary deputy chief constable Sara Glen praised her force’s work since March but warned of a ‘challenging winter’ after a tough summer.

On the survey Ms Glen said she was ‘really pleased that’s come forward’ as the ‘pats on the back’ make her force know ‘the public do appreciate them’.

‘Fatigue hitting officers’

At the same time, Hampshire Police Federation chair Zoe Wakefield has warned of workforce ‘fatigue’ with new coronavirus legislation, deployments to big Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter protests outside of Hampshire, and childcare pressures.

Sgt Wakefield said it was ‘great to hear’ the results of this newspaper’s survey and her colleagues are ‘dedicated professional officers who want to do their best for the public, even at the most challenging times’.

Speaking to The News, Ms Glen said: ‘It has been super tough but our (officers and staff) are very, very up for the challenge.’

She added: ‘It’s a real challenge and I don’t sit here feeling particularly comfortable for the challenge we’ve got in the winter.’

Police are expecting to dish out more Covid fines as infections rise, are preparing for any traffic chaos linked to Portsmouth port in a no-deal Brexit, and balancing both of these with usual policing - and training a cadre of new officers.