In an email message sent this evening, 1st September 2015, to all volunteer members of the Drivesafe teams, for whom he was the local Organiser and Adviser, we have learned with great regret that PC 1467 Ben Satchfield has announced his resignation from the Police Force :
“I am writing to inform you that I will be leaving as your Drivesafe Volunteer Advisor.
After nearly 9 years in the job I have resigned and will be leaving the Police on 16th September 2015. This is due to me having other business interests outside of this job which I will pursue.
I have worked closely with a number of you over the past couple of years so please email me individually if you wish and I will happily explain more.
You will be advised of your new Advisor in due course. I trust they will organise a Christmas BBQ or other social and I hope to be able to attend if this is the case.
Regards,
Ben
PC 1467 Ben Satchfield | Neighbourhood PC – Welwyn Hatfield North SNT | Welwyn Hatfield
Everybody in Welwyn remembers Ben’s arrival as Neighbourhood Team Co-ordinator for Welwyn, Digswell and The Ayots, initially with two PCSO’s working for him.
He arrived like a blast of fresh air; young, lean and hungry, and very very tall, and he took an immediate and earnest interest in just about every activity in Welwyn. Ben was tireless in the way he attended and supported village meetings, not just to ‘be seen’, but to speak to us all. Whenever he could, he would switch his shift pattern, or work extra hours in order to respond to an Invitation.
At public meetings he was well informed, well prepared, and impressively articulate. As a result he was always well liked and well respected. He regularly attended the Tuesday Community Cafe where all the ladies loved him!
Ben was also very good at booking those who chose to ignore zig-zags on the zebra-crossing when parking in the High Street.
In the past two years, following a reorganisation within the Welwyn Hatfield police, Ben moved on as our village policeman to become a leading member of the Welwyn Hatfield based Safer Neighbourhood Team, and we read about his many successes in that role in the local Press.
Ben will be remembered locally for many reasons, not least by one of my grand-daughters who was prompted to say ‘hello’ to this lofty policeman when he called upon me one afternoon to discuss Neighbourhood Watch matters. We had had a well-loved Golden Retriever at home named ‘Ben’ for very many years, and on retiring to our kitchen while I talked with PC Ben Satchfield, my grand-daughter commented to my wife – “Ben is a funny name for a man!”
During his time in the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Welwyn Hatfield, Ben Satchfield has been the organiser and administrator of the very successful Drivesafe Project, whereby Police volunteers are trained, formed into teams, and then authorised to man speed cameras to deter speeding in and around Welwyn Hatfield.
Welwyn has three Drivesafe teams of its own, and although we did have some early administrative problems to do with equipment access, and long-winded and archane reporting procedures, these were not of Ben’s making, and he worked with great patience to get things sorted out amicably. Ben encouraged a Team spirit which was fortunately not entirely wrecked by his plan to have a BBQ at the Stanborough Police Headquarters on a freezing winter’s night. It is clear from the concluding comment in his resignation letter that, in the BBQ sense, he is a glutton for punishment!
Following the recent well constructed Survey of our vews on the operation of the Drivesafe Project, team members will all now hope that Ben Satchfield’s departure at this stage will not hamper its continuing success. Many people in Welwyn will echo our wishes for every success in Ben’s new business venture, accompanied by our thanks for helping to keep us safe.
Thanks Ben.