A new police nerve centre serving the whole of Shropshire could soon be operating from a business park on the outskirts of Shrewsbury, it was revealed today.
Communications room staff from Shrewsbury and Telford would be brought together at Battlefield Enterprise Park as part of a £3 million investment by the West Mercia Police Authority.
And the Criminal Justice Department is set to be moved from Shrewsbury’s main police station at Monkmoor to Shrewsbury Business Park at Emstrey.
Around 80 people are due to work at the two new “satellite” units, freeing up space at the cramped Shrewsbury divisional headquarters at Monkmoor.
Stephen Howarth, the authority’s director of finance, said he hoped to sign the deals for the two sites within the next few weeks.
“We hope to move people from Telford and Shrewsbury to the new communications centre at Battlefield and have it kitted out by mid-summer,” he said.
“It should be fully operational by the autumn.”
He said the idea was to combine the existing two call management centres at Shrewsbury and Telford into a single centre using the latest technology to serve both police divisions.
“This is a terrific investment which is good for the police and will provide a better locally based service for the community,” said Mr Howarth.
“These days people are increasingly ringing us instead of calling at police stations in person.”
Mr Howarth said the Criminal Justice Department, which provides the paperwork link between police and Crown Prosecution Service, would be moving to a new unit at Shrewsbury Business Park.
He said all this would help deal with the lack of capacity at Monkmoor - a problem highlighted when a large team of officers was drafted in to work on the recent double murder at a Shrewsbury massage parlour.
“Shrewsbury divisional headquarters is fairly cramped and has parking problems. The changes will mean it has better capacity for operational policing,” he said.
Police chiefs have previously considered moving the Shrewsbury divisional headquarters to an out-of-town site such as Battlefield, but this has been ruled out due to the huge cost and ultimate impact on council tax.
West Mercia Constabulary, which recently escaped being merged into a giant West Midlands “super force”, is officially ranked one of the top performing police forces in England and Wales.
Mr Howarth said: “We are the only force in the country to get the top grade four “excellent” status for value for money in the Audit Commission’s police use of resources evaluation.”
Crime has consistently fallen in West Mercia over the last three years and the force now employs more police and support staff than at any time in its history.
By Peter Johnson
Share this article:
What are these?