By Steve Stratford, Deputy Editor
NORTH Wales Police might think the Weekly News has it in for them this week, but apart from the fact we disagree with some of the things they say - or rather more often, how they say it - we don't have any firm opinion either way.
It is sheer coincidence that this week we have a number of stories which either cast them in a less than favourable light, or are downright critical, but rather like buses, these stories seem to come along together.
Our main splash this week is about the force's controversial decision to move 24 community beat managers from frontline service in various villages across the region to pick up the workload left by those made redundant at the police's operational communications division in St Asaph.
It's natural for communities to rally round at times like this, to set up petitions and lobby chief constable Richard Brunstrom in an effort to save their local bobby. Without people power like this, campaigning newspapers such as the Weekly News have little purpose.
But it's fair to say that the reasons behind the changes are directly related to budget, a budget the police say is not good enough to sustain current community policing levels.
Mr Brunstrom says nothing less than a 10% rise in the police precept of the 2007/08 council tax will help alleviate strains on the force's budget, which has seen cuts implemented by central government.
Sometimes it's easy to criticise figureheads such as Mr Brunstrom for what is happening to the force, but I'm sure he would have plenty to say about why certain decisions are made, and how very often they are made because of other decisions made above his head.
On the flipside of the coin, we have a story this week about an angry mum whose four-year-old son was savagely attacked by a dog in Glan Conwy, but because North Wales Police has lost the file on the case, nothing can now be done to prosecute the deadly dog's owner.
The police have apologised to Jane Jones, and suggested she appeal, but Jane has lost all faith in the police in the knowledge that her son's vicious injury went unpunished, and a similar attack could be just around the corner for another innocent child.
Losing files is one thing, but endangering the public in this way is quite a different crime.
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