A public meeting on policing in the town has been arranged by Stone Town Council for the New Year.
The meeting – titled ‘The future of policing in Stone’ – will take place on 12th January at 7pm at Walton Community Centre. Chief Superintendent Jon Drake, the head of community policing for Staffordshire Police, will be at the meeting, as well as other, as yet unnamed, speakers.
On the agenda will be the move by Stone police from their Radford Street station to a new base in the town in 2012. Staffordshire Police revealed in February 2011 that nine police stations across the county – including Stone – would be closed, with officers moving to alternative bases within those communities. The plans are part of a drive to save £22 million over the next two years.
Chief Constable Mike Cunningham said in February: “Every pound I spend on buildings means that that’s not a pound I have to save in terms of police officers and police staff, and we deliver our services through people not through buildings. My promise is this, that I will not close any police stations, I will not move officers out of any police stations unless and until alternative accommodation can be found in that local community.”
