As part of a programme to dispose of unused police stations, Stone’s Radford Street police station, including the currently free Northesk Street car park, is to be sold off.
Over the past five years, Staffordshire’s Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue and Crime has been making investments in mobile technology for policing across Staffordshire.
The investment was to allow officers to spend more time out and about in public while still having access to the information and systems they need, without the need to constantly head back indoors.
The aim is to help make policing as visible as possible in communities alongside the recent remodelling of the Force, which has a strong and renewed focus on neighbourhood policing.
Along with Stone Police Station the free rubble car park on Northesk Street will also be sold. Stone Town Council currently operate this car park under agreement from the police and talks are ongoing about the car parks future.
Staffordshire’s Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue and Crime promised in 2013 to invest in new technology that supports policing more effectively.
Matthew Ellis said:
‘Over the last decade the challenges faced by the police everywhere have evolved. The technology available to Staffordshire Police has improved very substantially in the last few years to meet the challenges faced.
‘Whilst police buildings are still needed, most people want to see more officers out and about in communities and policing now has the right tools to help that happen.
‘There’s no question that budgets are tight and the growing complexity of the job policing does needs evermore investment to keep up. The properties I am selling were built in a different era and are surplus to requirement for policing today.
‘It is vital that more of the money available is spent on people to deliver our police service and also on ensuring they have the right tools for the difficult job they do.’
Staffordshire Police has now increased the number of officers working in communities and is investing more in neighbourhood policing, patrolling communities with an increased visible presence across the county.
The eight properties identified to be sold are:
- Stone
- Blythe Bridge
- Newcastle
- Tunstall
- Stoke
- Kinver
- Wombourne
- Eccleshall
There will be greater use of shared public sector buildings, more drop-in surgeries in local centres, street briefings and community groups. It will allow more access to officers on the ground and there are also new opportunities for the police and the fire service to share some buildings locally
The new resolution centres launched by the police last year to deal with non-emergency matters are also providing a more prompt and convenient service to resolve issues for people.
New online services are being developed to make it easier and more convenient for people to report and track crime online, and the performance of the 101 non-emergency number is also continuing to improve.
