Police in South Western division (covering Thurrock and Basildon) are celebrating, after they cycled the highest total distance out of the whole force as part of Operation Velo.
The operation saw 300 police officers, police community support officers and special constables out and about patrolling on police bicycles throughout July and August.
Thurrock officers clocked up a remarkable 4,902 miles. Basildon came a close second after officers pedalled 4,752 miles in the two month operation.
South Western also achieved the highest number of arrests and assisted arrests whilst police were out on bike patrol, with 55 people detained for various offences.
Divisional commander, Temporary Chief Supt Jed Stopher said: “The people of Basildon and Thurrock deserve the best possible service from us and this goes to show we are always out on patrol serving the community.
“Cycle patrols will still continue in the division, and we will still have a daily presence in the community. I am immensely proud of all my officers for the dedication they have to serving this area.”
One officer who will certainly be fitter after Operation Velo is Chadwell’s PCSO Ben Freeman. He clocked up the most amount of miles for an individual officer out of the whole of Essex, travelling 605 miles whilst out on patrol with the Chadwell neighbourhood policing team.
PCSO Freeman said: “Being on the bikes has had a real positive impact. Not only have we been able to access areas that we may not have been able to get to in a car or get to incidents quicker than being on foot, there has been a great response from the local people.
