As the new seasons kicks off, I wanted to take the opportunity to offer some reassurance around our role at football matches.
First of all, I’m delighted we’re working with Shrewsbury Town FC to help make sure you, the clubs supporters, can enjoy the upcoming fixtures of the season. Home matches, in particular, are a great day out for the whole family with supporters of all ages coming along to watch the team. We know Shrewsbury Town is very much a family club and is very active working with all ages in the local community.
Depending on the game you may see more police at a home game than others, this is absolutely nothing to worry about, our officers are primarily there to make sure you can enjoy the game. They are there to make sure people can get in and out of the stadium without too much delay and that we minimise disruption to local residents or people in the area who are not attending the game.
I do appreciate it can sometimes be unnerving seeing a heavy police presence but I want to reassure you officers being there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Our officers are very approachable and if you want to have a chat with them then please do as they will be more than happy to speak to you.
There might not always be a visible police presence at all football matches but there will be officers at the majority of both home and away football matches who are our liaison officers. The role of a liaison officer is essentially to act a link between us and you so that we can improve our understanding of your expectations of police and enhance the relationship we have with supporters. If you see our liaison officer please stop and speak to them and let them know your feedback about what we can do better to make your time at the match even more enjoyable.
Finally, I just want to thank you for the good-natured passion you show for the team, it really does make me proud to be the local policing commander.
Superintendent Mo Lansdale,
Shropshire Local Policing Commander.
Picture: Some of our Liason Officers are pictured with Shrewsbury Town Safety Officer Lawrence Ellerby and SLO's Roger Groves and Mike Davies.