I WAS interested to read the comments from M A Carrigan (Letters, May 16). I can understand the author's concern that I had apparently not responded to Mr Joslin's comments concerning bobbies on the beat' (April 29).

In my original letter I had responded at some length to all the points raised, but quite understandably there had then needed to be some local editing to ensure other items could appear in that day's newspaper!

Perhaps I could offer the key points that I had made on that subject.

I am entirely in support of the approach that sees officers and staff patrolling locally, and this is why we now have 77 Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the force area, in addition to our emergency response officers, to deliver just that.

We have one of the very highest proportions of any police force in terms of police officers committed to operational roles, at 98.8%.

Readers should bear in mind that the 23 officers not so deployed nonetheless do critical work to support the work of the force. Some of them are in organisational support roles because of serious injuries received in the execution of their duty.

The key constraint on the force is simple. It is that we have as many officers and staff as we can afford, and the demands upon us require a diverse range of skills and abilities.

I make sure I too spend time on patrol and on occasion frighten my custody sergeants when I appear with an arrested person in hand!

I can assure the author that the force is committed to maximising our patrol force, tempered with the very necessary demands to protect the public in the many, not so obvious ways, that I have described previously.

A very recent example of this has been the investigation concerning Brian Phelps, leading to his conviction and sentence of imprisonment for child sex abuse offences.

Achieving protections such as this requires officers and staff in roles other than being on the beat, important though that is, and this is the reality of police decision making today.

It is not a simple matter of saying "bobbies on the beat, 24 hours a day". There would be a huge increase in violent crime if that was all a police force did.

Adrian Whiting, Assistant Chief Constable, Dorset Police,