// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Cleveland police chief proud of force but being 'let down' by funding
PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough 'put the public before themselves', Cleveland Police chief says
Cleveland Police's Chief Constable has said she is proud of her "brave" force but that it was being "let down" by the way it was funded, following a fatal crash which killed seven people including two police officers.
In her first sit-down interview since the A66 crash, speaking exclusively to the BBC, Victoria Fuller said the force needed to become part of a larger force with greater resources.
She said her officers are dealing with some of the highest crime levels in the country akin to those faced by metropolitan forces, but with less than half the number of officers.
Multiple people have since been arrested as part of a wider police operation against organised crime following the crash.
A Volkswagen Passat carrying five young men drove the wrong way down the motorway near Middlesbrough in the early hours of the morning before colliding with a marked police car.
Officers had been pursuing the car for almost seven minutes after it was connected to earlier alleged criminal activity, but the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the crash when the Passat turned on to the dual carriageway, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
Fuller, whose force covers an area of north-east England that includes Middlesbrough and Teesside, recalled being asleep when the duty commander rang her with the news.
"No matter how tragic and devastated you feel, we swing into action and we do what we need to do," she said.
The home secretary announced this week that Cleveland Police would be given an extra £2m to deal with the fallout from the crash, with 200 officers drafted in from elsewhere.