Hello again to all our amazing supporters! This is my end of week update (which I plan to write every Sunday for you now, without fail!). Just to say, first of all, it makes me feel a hundred times better sharing this with you all. Especially, reading the comments, written afterwards, from everybody who cares about us. Not feeling alone in the midst of all this, really does help me! So, here’s what we’ve faced this week, this week being the third week now since I launched the petition. The week started with just another anxious day of waiting on Monday, the tenth anxious day of waiting since the Chief Constable met with Dad on the 16th Feb to discuss, what he thought, was the best way forward for Ivy. On Tuesday, and this was the most devastating day for us all, the phone rang and I knew in my stomach it wasn’t good news. A Superintendent from Dad’s work phoned to briefly inform Dad of the bad news. All in all, the Chief Constable’s decision was that he considers Ivy too valuable a resource, and she must therefore be kept by the police, so that she can continue to work. Thanks for the last 34 years of your life, Dave, off you go now! That’s how it felt for me. I was sick to my stomach and I couldn’t imagine how Dad was really feeling. I don’t know what was worse about Tuesday, the fact Dad got the final blow, or that after giving the police 34-years of his life (which often played havoc with Dad’s family life), the Chief Constable could be heartless enough to just rip Dad's best friend away, and at a time, when, what is for most people I think, when they retire, an unsettling period already full of mixed-feelings and uncertainty. I never ever thought I’d be saying this, but is it any wonder that Police Officers sometimes get a bad press, particularly when there’s people ‘leading’ the force, who lack so much compassion? This is the Chief Constable who, writing on his website when he got the job, last year, said: “As Chief Constable, I want to lead a strong, confident and *compassionate* West Mercia.” See - https://www.westmercia.police.uk/article/21352/New-Chief-Constable-tours-the-force In fact, if you get a spare twenty seconds, perhaps you could ask the Chief Constable’s boss, our Police & Crime Commissioner John Campion, the person who appointed the Chief Constable, if he thinks the Chief Constable is really best-placed to lead a “compassionate” force? You can, if you feel like I did, and maybe, it might help - http://facebook.com/campion4westmercia/ or http://twitter.com/JohnPaulCampion. When I wrote to him, though, he snappily replied "It might of been helpful to have raised the matter directly with the Chief Constable, before starting the public campaign. Needless to say, I haven't written to him again… Wednesday turned into a day of dealing with the press, Dad’s story made all the national newspapers and so many different radio stations, again. I gave interviews to numerous journalists and because I had to work, my Auntie Lisa (Dad’s sister), spoke on air to countless radio stations - here’s a clip of one http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tnk7y We’ve got, who has become my friend now, a local freelance journalist, who works from home, called Jacob Windsor, he volunteered to help me get Dad’s story out there, the very day after I’d started the petition. He’s been amazing, he’s doing all he can to help me out with the campaign when I’m working during the day and we appreciate the time and hard work he is putting in to the petition. Jacob knew the right media people to contact and arranged my first interview with a media journalist to discuss the petition, before long we were seeing Dad’s story everywhere from news channels to all the national newspapers and countless local and national radio stations, and so on. Jacob has also arranged for Dad to appear on a national TV programme in March, watched by millions in the UK, so that Dad can speak out about all of this in the hope of gaining more support. (Note: Dad has asked me to go on the programme with him, but I’m nervous. I’m still thinking about it though….) On Wednesday and Thursday, I had to be at work again during the day, so Jacob held the fort for me - he wrote to some officials too, to see if they could help. The first reply came from MP Owen Paterson’s office in Westminster, London. When Owen’s personal assistant replied to us, he said: “Mr Paterson had already received correspondence from a number of his constituents” about Dad’s case, and that he had “written to the Superintendent of West Mercia Constabulary’s Shropshire Division, on their behalf”. We’re also now waiting for a reply from Amber Rudd MP, Home Secretary, and Sir Thomas Winsor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Finally, we’ve also sent an official Freedom of Information request to West Mercia Police, this week, demanding, amongst other things, the release of all disclosable documents, records and information, about how Chief Constable Anthony Bangham arrived at his decision, that it would be in everyone’s best interests for Dad and Ivy, to be split up. On Friday, we announced that Dad is now, officially, taking an earlier than planned retirement to step up the campaign, which will enable him to, finally, speak out. A lot of people still don’t know that, throughout this process so far, Dad has effectively been silenced by the police. Dad’s not authorised by the police to talk to the press. So, although the police can, and have, had their say, Dad simply hasn’t been allowed, and he’s found that extremely frustrating - all this on top of everything else, too!! It’s not good for Dad, at all… By yesterday, Saturday, following the news we broke about Dad taking an earlier than planned retirement, and that that would mean Ivy would be taken away by the police much sooner, as soon as within 9 days, almost overnight (last night!) more than 70,000 people have joined the petition. We just want to say, thank you again, to you, for your support. If you weren’t supporting us in this way, we wouldn’t get anywhere at all. 100,000 people (you) telling the world how you feel about this, means that the people at the top (government) will listen to us, and hopefully overrule Chief Constable Anthony Bangham’s decision! I can’t describe what you all mean to me, for what you’re doing for my Dad and Ivy. Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. Jennie, Dad & Ivy xxx P.S. Just to clarify again, about the comments made by a couple of people online recently, that Dad HAS asked his bosses repeatedly to name their price, saying he would pay “whatever” was necessary for Ivy, but he was completely ignored. P.P.S. Celebrities are now noticing the Petition on Twitter; Angie Best, the model and fitness guru to the megastars like Cher (the singer). Angie has tweeted the petition to all her celebrity friends. Actress Lizzie Roper and Award-winning presenter, reporter & journalist for ITV's Good Morning Britain Philippa Tomson! https://twitter.com/AngieBest/status/835535618046328832 https://twitter.com/lizzieroper/status/835977995974238209 https://twitter.com/PipTomson/status/836214144051347456 If celebrities get behind us too, this could really help in terms of getting our story out there even further. If you’re on twitter, would you mind just hitting the LOVE button on their tweets!? Jennie xxx