No new nick for Salisbury

Chief Constable sets out custody review plans

The Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, Pat Geenty, has announced that the Force will be reviewing its custody needs for the central and southern parts of the county.

Since the closure of Wilton Road Police Station in Salisbury in June this year, the Force has been carrying out a feasibility study into a potential site for a new custody unit in the Churchfields area of the city.

However, Mr Geenty has now decided to put a hold on the feasibility study into these plans.

He said today: "My priority as Chief Constable must be to protect frontline policing in order to keep our public safe and I've had to look very hard at innovative ways to reduce our costs and help us deliver the savings we need in order to meet the Government's strict financial targets. I know that this is what the public would expect of me.

"Over the next three years we expect to have to achieve savings in excess of £3million per year (£9 million over the next three years).

"In line with my priority and the requirement to achieve those savings, I have decided to commission a review which will look at the long term and sustainable custody requirement for the central and southern part of the county."

At present, Wiltshire Police has custody units at Gablecross in Swindon and at Melksham. Since Salisbury custody closed, prisoners have been taken by a dedicated Prisoner Transport Team to Melksham.

Mr Geenty explained: "In an ideal world we'd like to continue with three custody units across the Force, but we have to think very carefully indeed about how we spend public money and this could mean moving from three units to two. Gablecross will remain and will not be within the scope of this review."

The review will be led by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Paul Mills and will be independently verified. It will take into account a number of factors and considerations, such as:

• thorough research into changing patterns and falling rates of crime in the county
• the potential savings to be made by rationalising the police estate in line with the Commissioner's estates strategy
• the changing demographics of the county; there is a projected population growth in certain towns across the county within the next few years, including the impact of the return and re-housing of service families to Wiltshire
• The work the police are doing through their strategic partnership with Wiltshire Council, to introduce increased use of mobile technology, enabling greater flexibility and visibility for officers and staff

Mr Geenty continued: "I must stress that we remain absolutely committed to providing a custody unit that will serve the central and southern parts of the county. The work we've already done as part of our feasibility study for the Churchfields site has been extremely informative and helped us to visualise and create a blueprint for a new, efficient custody unit."

Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson said: "I fully support the Chief Constable's decision to carry out a review. Mr Geenty's decision was taken after very careful consideration of a number of factors. We have to be sure that we provide a custody unit in the right location that will meet our long-term needs."