Collective protection services have responded to exceptional demand so far this year, including murders, attempted murders and fatal collisions.

The Major Crime and Scientific Services of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Joint Protective Services have picked up several serious incidents since the beginning of January.

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Fullwood of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Joint Protective Services, said: “Collaboration is crucial to our ability to deal with such a spike in demand, and the work we do could not be achieved without the support of our colleagues from many other units across the three forces.

“Our resilience during this period and ability to deal with these investigations when experiencing such a spike in demand is testament to our ability to surge and move resources. From October through to December 2016, we have had 12 murder trials running across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

“This is something we would have struggled to balance against responding to other major crimes across the three forces under our previous force arrangements.”

Last year saw impressive achievements for the BCH Major Crime and Scientific Services Units in dealing with those who pose significant levels of threat to our communities.

With more than 53 investigations and offenders of the most serious crimes put behind bars for more than 390 years, the teams played a vital role in solving crime across the three forces.

Det Chief Supt Fullwood added: “The Major Crime and Scientific Services units offer specialist investigative capability and utilise our expertise to deliver efficient and effective support to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire in tackling the most serious crime, and more importantly supporting our local communities.

“I would like to thank my staff for their hard work and all of our colleagues who work alongside us in contributing to our achievements in 2016.”