PSNI bases in hours cut

PSNI bases in hours cut

26 November 2014

PORTAFERRY police station is to be closed to the public.

The base is just one of three local stations that will be affected by major budgetary cuts as the PSNI works to make savings of £38.4m by March next year.

Portaferry station, which is currently open to members of the public by appointment for two hours a week, will no longer be used as a -in station.

Opening hours at Downpatrick and Newcastle stations’ enquiry offices will also be scaled back as as a result of the rationalisation programme across the district.

Downpatrick station will be open to the public 38 hours less every week with the enquiry office opening from noon until 8pm from Monday to Friday and from 8am to 8pm on Saturday and Sundays. It will, in the future, be closed on public holidays.

Public opening at Newcastle station, meanwhile, will be cut by 20 hours during the week with the office opening from noon until 8pm. The office will be closed to the pubic at weekends and on public holidays.

It is not yet known when the changes will come into play.

Portaferry councillor Joe Boyle said he will not oppose the changes to the village station as long as the building does not fall into disuse. He said police officers currently use the Portaferry station during their shifts and he hoped that would remain the case.

“In my opinion it is more important for their to be feet on the street rather than lights on in the local station,” he said. “The station has not been fully open to the public for quite a while so this will not make much of a difference to people. What would concern me would be if the PSNI decides to let the building fall into total disuse. I do not want to see that.”

A PSNI spokeswoman confirmed while the changes at Portaferry police station are permanent, police officers will continue to work out of the base at this stage, even though there will be no inquiry office.

Chief Superintendent Peter Farrar explained police had looked at demand and peak use of stations when considering the changes to ensure the impact on the public is kept to a minimum.

Although he conceded that difficult decisions had to be made, he said it was important to reassure the public that a reduction in enquiry office opening hours does not mean a reduction in service.

“Policing remains a 24 hours, seven days a week operation and we will continue to help anyone in an emergency situation,” he said. “Police activities within stations will continue as normal and we can be contacted 24 hours a day on either 101 or 999 in the case of an emergency.

“The public are increasingly engaging with the police in different ways — from online reporting of non-emergency and hate crime, to interacting with local police on our local Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, to contacting local neighbourhood policing teams directly as their contact details are available from the PSNI website.

“Fewer people are visiting or using police stations and officers within this district are now engaging with their local communities in a variety of ways.

“The reality is that nearly all policing services are delivered outside of stations. Policing isn’t about buildings it is about officers working with the community in the community.”