A police force has been heavily criticised after an officer appeared to refuse to attend a nearby assault.
In a video that has gone viral, a resident is heard reporting the incident at a Co-op store in Lancing, West Sussex that was just “seconds away”.
But a police community support officer in a patrol car says he cannot attend because he is not a response unit.
The resident urges the officer to go to the scene, saying a member of the public has been assaulted in a fight as a result of shoplifting in the store, 200 or 300 yards away. The sight of a police car “will make them scatter,” says the resident.
The PCSO responds: “Yeah, but then I have to deal with it.”
Michael Morgan, a policing podcaster, called the response “unbelievable” and described the officer as a “coward in costume”.
Twitter users, including some former officers, said it was “inexcusable”.
One woman, who says she is a retired police officer, said: “While serving, I would never not intervene in any incident taking place, on or off duty. As for the officer possibly being a PCSO, they do not carry officer safety equipment but can detain for 30 minutes which is ample time for police to arrive!”
Sussex Police said it was reviewing its response to the incident, and apologised for the “clumsy language” used by the PCSO.
Following the exchange on video, a police officer attended the incident as an emergency, the force said; the PCSO. who does not have the power to use force to make an arrest or to attend an incident in a vehicle on a blue-light emergency, then also attended the scene.
In a statement to The Independent, West Sussex local policing Superintendent Nick Dias said: “Keeping the public safe and feeling safe is paramount and our officers and PCSOs work hard to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, often in challenging circumstances. We work closely with local retailers and partners to help prevent and respond to anti-social behaviour and assaults on shop workers.
“We are sorry for the clumsy language used by the PCSO in this exchange and acknowledge the public’s concern. A police unit was dispatched to the scene as a matter of priority. Our response to this incident is being reviewed.”
