I am grateful for the overwhelming support and interest this initiative has generated but I feel it only right that I respond to Mr Marden’s views as it is clear he is not aware of the full details.

Mr Marden asks what “planet” do I, as the person in charge of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, “live on”?

I live in the real world, where day-in-day-out I see hard-working officers and staff giving their all for communities across Cambridgeshire.

We may not get everything right, that is just the nature of any organisation, but I can say that everyone turns up to work to do the best job they can and I am proud to be their chief constable.

I also see nearly every day, officers and staff being assaulted. This ranges from being spat at to being seriously injured, requiring hospitalisation and time off work.

There is probably not a day that goes by when I do not personally contact one of my staff who has been subjected to an unprovoked and unacceptable level of violence.

It is sad fact, but a reality of policing. The effects of violence and other traumatic events, which policing cannot ignore, will of course have an impact on an individual.

The constabulary has done a huge amount in supporting the health and wellbeing of its staff, something any good organisation would be expected to do.

The wellbeing dog initiative is just one small example of this. Holly costs the constabulary and taxpayers nothing.

She is owned by PC Paul Roe, lives with him, is fed by him and trained by him. Paul does this initiative alongside his “day job”.

He has had the support, at no cost, of all the accredited training courses. We have also had offers of sponsorship for which we are extremely grateful.

This was an initiative which was suggested by Paul and supported by an inspector and put forward to my chief officer team.

The whole constabulary and I are behind this and judging by the overwhelming support on social media.

So are the vast majority of the public who actually recognise that we are trying something different.

This past year has demonstrated a real sense of coming together across the county and I am proud of the resilience of my teams as I am sure other public sector services and beyond are too.

I hope I have provided some more context for an initiative that simply seeks to add a bit of goodwill and support across the constabulary.