It was with some disappointment that I read Philip Harper's letter about crime statistics and Police Community Support Officers (Oxford Mail, May 23).

Not only do my expanding number of quite excellent PCSOs need their voice to be heard, but the communities of Oxford also deserve a response to Mr Harper's assertions. When the concept of a new type of police employee was first mooted some time ago, I will readily admit being somewhat uneasy about it.

It is true that, as police employees, they are cheaper to employ and train, but their accountability as police employees is not in doubt.

While more police officers will always be welcome, we operate in the real world and most people will be aware of the enormous pressure across the whole public sector to become more effective and efficient.

Thames Valley Police, for example, has had to find an additional £10m savings this financial year, on top of a similar sum already saved last year.

We simply do not have the funds to increase our number of officers and the force has done well to maintain its current officer numbers and in the case of the city, produce further reductions in crime year on year.

PCSOs are currently being funded across the county by a significant Government fund and, in many cases, by local organisations on a partnership basis.

We welcome that funding and, in the case of Oxford, that will result in 59 additional PCSOs being deployed by the end of March, 2008. They will be welcomed across the city and if the current 25 PCSOs are anything to go by in terms of quality, Oxford will be in a superb position to become an even safer place.

PCSOs do have limited powers compared with a police officer, but that does mean they are out on patrol longer (not needing to return to the station for paperwork) and they can spend more time with communities.

Your police in Oxford are working hard to tackle criminals and to make our Neighbourhood Policing teams as responsive as possible, and the PCSOs are an invaluable part of our team.

I know that where PCSOs are deployed, they are welcomed by people across the city, as the Oxford Mail has frequently reported. If Mr Harper would care to contact me, I will arrange for him to see first hand how effective our PCSOs are, and he then might care to write to you again in support of them in the valuable work they are doing.

Jim Trotman (Supt), Area Commander Oxford City, Thames Valley Police