Chelmsford PCSO has no plans to retire aged 79
A man who is about to enter his 50th year working for a police force has said he has no plans to retire.Allan Barley was issued with a cape and had to cycle 16 miles to work when he first joined Essex Police in 1976.The force believes Mr Barley, who is now a police community support officer, is the oldest PCSO in Britain.The 79-year-old works as part of the Chelmsford neighbourhood policing team and says one of his favourite parts of the job is chatting to the public.
"I'm on the town all the time and you get to know people – you're even on first name terms with the bad guys and that's very useful," he said."Regardless of what you might read, there are more good than bad people out there. "People love to see the police, they chat away and they thank you for what you're doing."
Things have changed considerably since Mr Barley saw a newspaper advert for the Metropolitan Police 50 years ago.It featured an officer pulling off a high-speed skid in a patrol car."At that time, I was living in Stifford [in Thurrock, Essex] and I was posted to Basildon but I didn't have a clue where that was. I had to look it up on a map!"I then had to borrow a push bike and cycle the 16 miles down the old A13, getting up at 03:45 for the early shift."Mr Barley said his early days on the beat were "brilliant"."We'd walk the town centre checking doors – these are Dixon of Dock Green stories – and it was freezing cold sometimes but that's what the job was."I've still got the cape I was issued."
Essex Police said Mr Barley - who worked as an officer for 30 years before becoming a PCSO - plans to carry on for as long as possible.Mr Barley said the use of drugs had become more widespread, but that his interactions with the public had not changed."I like to talk, and your mouth is still your best bit of equipment."Times change, but you still have to solve problems and appease people. It's about knowing your audience."
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