Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham and Chief Constable Jo Farrell, of Police Scotland.
By Bill Heaney
Police Scotland says 29 stations are at risk of closure as it seeks to raise funds to plug a budget gap.
Dumbarton and Alexandria police stations are on the list which means that only seeing the occasional police officer on local streets this will mean you will probably see none at all.
Instead of speeding to public assistance from Crosslet police office for example, they will have to set out on a different route from elsewhere.
Fourteen of the stations in question don’t have public access.
Police Scotland said officers and staff would be moved to other locations, although those nearest Dumbarton and Alexandria – Paisley and Greenock, across the Erskine Bridge – are also on the list for the axe.
If the controversial move goes through then the sight of a uniformed police officer in West Dunbartonshire is likely to be consigned to history.
The dangerous crossing on the A82 at Garshake which police cars responding to calls from Crosslet Police Office have to negotiate to get to Dumbarton Town Centre.
Even with the Dumbarton office still open, the public has to put up with police vehicles travelling at high speed with blue lights flashing and claxons blaring on to the A82, jumping the lights at Roundriding Road and speeding through traffic which congregates in the area near three local schools – St Patrick’s and Braehead primaries and Dumbarton Academy – when children are being picked up.
Pupils from Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School in Bellsmyre, Aitkenbar and St Peter’s primaries also cross the “killer” A82 at the Garshake Road/Roundriding road lights and the lights at Argyll Avenue which were only installed – after a period of local campaigning – when a teenage pupils was knocked down by a car.
There has traditionally been an elderly population trying to cross the road safely in the Barloan/Silverton/ Gibson Street area and, with plans to build new housing to replace the old folk’s home and sheltered housing at Willox Park, this will inevitably increase.
Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said it had a large and ageing estate of police offices that was “no longer fit for purpose”.
The cells at Dumbarton and Helensburgh are too few and too small to accommodate the number of prisoners taken into custody at events such as CND protests at the Clyde Naval Base at Faslane or football matches at the Rock Stadium.
Rangers FC are due to play in Dumbarton early in the New Year and matches involving the Old Firm have a reputation for attracting crowd trouble.
Mr Fraser says that having a police station in the community gives people confidence to go about safely, but it’s having police officers that people know on the beat that counts.
And having “bobbies on the beat” is a huge help when it comes to intelligence gathering and solv ing crime.
Sixteen further vacant or unused Police Scotland buildings are also under review, according to a police media spokesperson..
The force said the financial savings from property sales would be re-invested into providing policing services.
Mr Graham said: “The locations of many inherited buildings no longer meet the requirements of local communities and in some cases the organisation is currently maintaining multiple buildings in the same area.
“Some of the buildings are just a few miles apart, others are used by only a handful of police officers or staff and have no public access.”
It has been suggested that a police office should be incorporated into the supposed new £20 million re-development of Dumbarton Town Centre, but that UK government levelling up cash will reduce dramatically because of plans to refurbish Glencairn House, which many people feel is not required and that the current library in Strathleven Place is sufficient to cope with public demand.
Proposed station closures
Glasgow and West: Castlemilk, Saracen, Bishopbriggs, Milngavie, Stewart Street, Gorbals, Baillieston, Pacific Quay, Paisley, Ferguslie Park, Greenock, Dumbarton, Alexandria, Ayr
Police Scotland said the buildings that officers and staff work in need to be “safe, functional spaces” that are sustainable and adaptable enough to meet changing public expectations.
Officers and staff in Greater Glasgow, Tayside, parts of the North East and the Highlands would be redeployed elsewhere in the area under closure plans.
In the rest of Scotland – including staff at Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven – there is no suggested destination for officers should buildings be shut.
Mr Graham said most workers would not move more than four miles from their current workplace.
If that turns out to be the case then the officers stationed at Crosslet and Alexandria would end up in Helensburgh or Clydebank.
He added: “Our presence in communities is not defined by buildings but by the officers and staff who work there.
“We have already introduced technology that enables our officers to remain in local areas, reducing the need for them to return to police stations to deal with paperwork.”
This is completely contrary to the case that was put for building the police office at Crosslet in the first place.
Mr Graham did not mention the fact that within the last few months Helensburgh police station, which covers the nuclear submarine base at Faslane, was left with only one officer present while the others who should have been there were called across the Blackhill to an incident on Loch Lomondside.
Scottish Labour Justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill, right, said: “This is yet another hammer-blow to Police Scotland’s resources due to chronic under-funding by the SNP government.
“With offices closing and jobs on the line, the need for action to protect police services could not be greater.
“Police visibility in our communities is vital in tackling crime as well as preventing crime and making people feel safe – we can’t allow cuts to undermine confidence in services.
“Action needs to be taken now to prevent further cuts to jobs and services and to help Scotland’s police keep Scots safe.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP, LEFT, said: “These closures will be yet another blow to community policing for a service that is being forced to take extremely tough decisions.
“While the police will always have operational decisions to take about which parts of their estate are fit for purpose and have a role to play in the future, it would be utterly naïve to pretend that budget decisions made by SNP ministers have not played a significant part in leading the service down this road.
“From cuts to capital budgets to the government’s failure to get to grips with the presence of dangerous concrete, the police are facing up to having to do more with less.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see a properly resourced police service that is ready and able to operate in communities across Scotland.”
Later, Labour’s Paul O’Kane, right, expressed concern that it had been reported on Monday that Greenock police station is likely to be closed and mothballed within a matter of months.
He added: “Despite reassurances that a police presence will be maintained in the area, no alternative site for the station has been proposed. Closure of the Rue End Street station could leave K division without adequate custody sites, meaning that officers must make hours-long trips to Glasgow in order to process people who are accused of crimes.
“That came before this morning’s news that Police Scotland has confirmed plans to close 40 buildings in the estate in the coming year, which is another demonstration of the state that the Government has let the police estate fall into.
“Is the Deputy First Minister proud of the condition of the police estate, which was presided over by, among others, the current First Minister when he was justice secretary? Will she give a guarantee that a proper police station will be provided to Inverclyde to ensure that local people feel safe?”
The Deputy First Minister told him: “The police perform an essential role in keeping our communities safe, which is why, over the past year, despite the difficult financial circumstances, we have increased police funding by £80 million to £1.45 billion for 2023-24.
“Decisions on Police Scotland’s estates strategy are an operational matter. Police Scotland is considering properties so that it can develop modern premises that are capable of delivering effective and efficient public services to meet the needs of people and staff who use them. We will continue to support our Police Scotland services and ensure that they have an estate that is fit for purpose.”
Top of page picture: Officers policing a football match involving one of the Old Firm teams.
Maybe our new Chief Constable should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on lifts home to England. Has she been billed for the full cost of her error of judgement?
Maybe that’s a bit harsh. That happened in the middle of a storm when trains were called off, her own car was off the road and there was at least one other person from Durham going the same way. When you think of the politicians in the past who used police cars as taxis to take them home and drop them at work then the new Chief’s plea in mitigation and apology is well-merited. More openness and transparency like this is badly needed in Secret Scotland.