A police officer has been inundated with offers from women after he was pictured on patrol.
The constable was featured in a Facebook post by Swindon Police to show that high-visibility patrols are being carried out following a stabbing in the area on Saturday (29 October).
A 14-year-old boy suffered life-changing injuries when others, in the same age group, allegedly slashed his wrists open behind the Link Centre leisure complex.
But the social post, which was meant to show proactive policing in action, received some mildly inappropriate responses from local women – who say the officer is their cup of tea.
“Handsome copper there, look at those hunky arms and perffffff (sic) jawline”, a woman commented as she shared the post on her Facebook.
Another penned: “Well hello PC 2073”, before adding a winky face and kissing emoji.
The comments move from being complimentary to distasteful and potentially offensive – with one woman writing that he may have a “big truncheon” and another suggesting that “maybe he needs it seeing too”.
Another wrote: “Blimey, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed on a cold morning. Nice.”
Extra patrols are taking place in the West Swindon area following the brutal knife assault, with officers out and about more often than usual to ensure a visible presence.
After the attack, Superintendent Phil Staynings said: “We are acutely aware of the impact these crimes have on our communities and the ages of those involved are shocking.
“We are utilising every available resource within our organisation to tackle this issue – including our community officers, dedicated proactive staff and colleagues within our firearms unit.
“We are also fully engaged with our partners – including Swindon Borough Council to develop our approach to early intervention and dissuade children from criminality.
“We’ve made use of criminal and civil orders to manage threat and risk – we have successfully applied for closure orders, injunctions and criminal behaviour orders and these have had huge impact in reducing threat and risk locally.
“But, it is clear that we need to do more to combat this issue.
“My officers will use every tactic available to them to reduce the number of stabbings on our streets but we cannot do this alone.
“My staff are fully committed in bringing those that perpetrate such crimes to justice, however alongside the work of my staff, we need intelligence and information from our communities to build up an accurate picture in order that we can tackle these issues effectively.
“We need communities to pull together and support the police in giving evidence for those who perpetrate such crimes.
“I would urge anyone with any information to contact us on 999 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be left anonymously.”
