Downing Street reception for local police officer

Simon Danczuk, PC Dermody and local campaigner Surinder Biant outside 10 Downing Street after the reception.

A local 'community hero' has been praised at Downing Street.

Police Constable Michael Dermody was taken to a Downing Street reception to celebrate people who are making a difference in their community.

A local man who has previously won a police bravery award for recovering the bodies of fire-fighters from a collapsed factory, PC Dermody said he was flattered to have been invited to the Downing Street reception and enjoyed meeting the likes of Alastair Darling, Ed Balls and Harriet Harman.

“It was absolutely brilliant to be invited to Downing Street and really interesting,” he said. “I am pleased to be able to speak up for Falinge too. It’s had some terrible press but only from people who don’t know the area. If you get on the estate and start speaking to people you’ll find it’s a warm community. You can have a laugh and a joke with people and the public perception of the place is worlds apart from the reality I found.”

He added that since the decision to go back to basics and put a police officer on a regular beat in the area, crime had started to significantly fall. “We’ve seen a 50 per cent decrease in recorded crime and a 100 per cent decrease in calls being made to the police about juvenile nuisance,” he explained.

Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Danczuk, recommended PC Dermody and took him to Downing Street because he was taking policing “back to basics” in Falinge and making a huge difference in an area that he believes has wrongly been pilloried in the media.

“Residents speak very highly about PC Dermody and I was fortunate to be able to go out on the beat with him and see the work he’s doing in Falinge,” he explained. “I’m tired of the constant stream of negative stories coming out of this area and it’s about time people were made aware of the good work that’s being done here. PC Dermody is doing an excellent job in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and he’s very modest about the improvement he’s overseeing. He puts it down to nothing more than a return to basic policing: walking round the area, being seen, keeping in touch with residents, working with other agencies and understanding the community.”

Former Councillor and local campaigner, Surinder Biant, also heaped praise on PC Dermody, saying he welcomed his attempts to get officers out of their cars and vans to revive old school policing. “He is pioneering a return to the times when police officers were at the heart of the community,” he said. “Pounding the streets and seeing things from a ground level. PC Dermody makes it his business to connect with local people and he’s doing a fantastic job.”