Fourteen front counters will close to save £63 million

RoystonUncategorized

ESSEX Police is to close half of its front counters in police stations in a bid to help save £63 million pounds in the next five years.

The front counters to close are; Billericay, Brentwood, Canvey Island, Epping, Great Dunmow, Halstead, Harwich, Loughton, Pitsea, Southminster, South Ockendon, South Woodham Ferrers, Tilbury and Witham.

The move will see 62 jobs go.

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh paid tribute to the Customer Contact Administrators for their service to Essex Police and the public.

He added: “The financial outlook might be slightly brighter than we thought in the autumn, but Essex Police still needs to change. We spend too much on too many police buildings, many of which are either no longer fit for policing or are hardly used by the public to report crime. Police officers, not buildings, fight crime and the confirmation today of proposals the police and crime commissioner and I made in October provide for a police estate fit for the future ready to cope with changes in crime and technology.

“I understand the views of people we’ve spoken to in the last few months who are worried that losing their police station will make them feel less safe, but the reality is the opposite is true: every expensive and outdated building which isn’t well-used by the public we keep open means fewer officers on patrol stopping crime and helping vulnerable people.”

Plans had also included cutting the number of PCSOs in the force from around 250 to 60, although this is now being reviewed after the Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement there would be no further funding cuts to police forces

Essex Police says 10 front counters will remain open: Grays, Basildon, Southend, Harlow, Chelmsford, Braintree, Colchester and Clacton (all Monday to Sunday) Maldon, Saffron Walden (both Monday to Friday).

It also says six operational policing bases will remain but without front counters in Loughton, Brentwood, Canvey Island, Great Dunmow, Rayleigh and Harwich. The front counters scheduled for closure will be closed by April 2016.

Nick Alston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, saidthe force has too many old and often poorly maintained buildings which are no longer fit for a modern police service.