A SPECIAL constable is bidding farewell to Teesdale after dedicating thousands of hours of his time to protecting the folk of rural communities.
Ross Moralee, 27, joined Durham Special Constabulary eight years ago and has since spent most of his duty hours working from Barnard Castle.
He said: “Being in the police was something I always wanted to do to follow in my father’s footsteps.
“It has definitely been interesting. I have met a lot of different people and done things I never imagined. It is amazing how diverse Teesdale is.”
Mr Moralee spent his first three years as a response officer working out of Barnard Castle, attending 999 emergencies. He then joined the road policing unit for two years before returning to the country roads of the dale where he has since worked alongside response and beat officers to help tackle rural crime. As well as being the first on the scene when people have needed help, Mr Moralee has made 31 arrests over the past three years alone. In the last five years, he has spent nearly 5,000 hours volunteering on duty alongside his day job as a Co-op manager. According to the force, his contribution amounts to £150,000 worth of policing that he has donated to Teesdale for free.
He said: “Policing in Teesdale has given me many challenges over the years, from the hundreds of calls of sheep on the roads, to a bull running through the streets of Barnard Castle and dealing with countless serious road traffic collisions across the area.
“Over the years I’ve seen and experienced things I’d never have seen working outside of the police force. I’ve dealt with the public at the highest and lowest points of their lives and everything in between.”
Mr Moralee has been at the heart of a number of initiatives which have been launched by Durham Constabulary including the Special Constable rural policing team for which he was a founder member. As a special, he also helped to roll out the Land Rover Defender marking scheme last summer. The aim was give a unique set of codes to each vehicle to try to stop thieves from targeting them.
Speaking of his time with the force, he said: “I have loved it. It has given me the knowledge and the confidence to pursue a career.”
Mr Moralee will step down as a special constable for Durham Constabulary on March 4. He will be moving across the border to North Yorkshire Police where he has landed a job as a full-time police constable. Chief officer of Durham Special Constabulary Dale Checksfield said: “In Ross’ time as a special constable, he has made an incredible contribution to communities in Teesdale and has built incredible relationships with people. Special constables have the full powers of a police officer but they give their time voluntarily. Some months Ross volunteered nearly 100 hours which is a lot when you are not getting paid. He has gone out of his way and taken the time and energy to meet the needs of the community. He is such an unassuming character.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
