Devon police stations to reopen their enquiry desks

They closed eight years ago due to cost saving measures

Two of Devon’s police station front desks will reopen this year, the region’s police and crime commissioner has announced.

The enquiry desks in Tiverton and Newton Abbot will open their doors to the public again after closing in 2014 as part of cost-saving measures brought on by austerity.

They are part of a total of four across Devon and Cornwall to be reopened by commissioner Alison Hernandez, with two further front desks being restored across the border in Penzance and Falmouth. Newquay’s will also remain open permanently after a successful temporary opening.

All are expected to be reopened by December, with the plan estimated to cost the police just shy of £190,000 this financial year.

The offices will be staffed from Mondays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., while the existing nine will operate extended opening hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the same days. Staff on the desks will also be able to support the 101 contact centre when not dealing with people who walk in.

Ms Hernandez said: “Police stations offer a place of refuge for victims and a point of contact between the police and the public they serve. They are hugely reassuring for many people, enabling crimes to be reported, victims to be protected and information to flow freely between the force and the public it serves.”

Speaking outside Newton Abbot station, she added reopening front desks was about “being in the community and being part of the community.”

“I think for the people of Newton Abbot, who, at the moment, if they want to speak to the police direct, will have to drive to Torquay or drive to Exeter as their nearest front desk.

“So, this is about showing that the police are on their side in Newton Abbot and they do want to be accessed via this station.”

Asked why they had been closed in the first place, before she was first elected to the role, Ms Hernandez (Conservative) said: “I’ve been trying to get some of these stations reopened for some years and it’s been really challenging because the priority has been to recruit police officers.

“But I’ll be really frank with you, we won’t have hundreds of people coming here [to Newton Abbot station] every day, but I’m happy if it’s just one person who needed that help that has been able to come here and get it.”

On whether austerity, instigated by her own party at the start of the last decade, had been a mistake, the commissioner added: “I think it was a challenge for everybody to go through and obviously what’s happened now is we’re on the complete opposite where we’ve had a massive investment.”

“So we’ve gone from swathes of cuts in 2010 to a huge investment to replace what we’ve lost and all I can say is that the one positive thing, because our council taxpayers have been paying more as well, is that we’re going to have record numbers of police officers – 3,610 by the end of this financial year. [The] highest number we’ve ever had. Higher than pre-austerity.”

Ms Hernandez suggested more police stations will reopen to the public in future. “I will be looking to build into the budget, how I can open more of these front desks.”

The announcement comes after council taxpayers last month started paying an extra 4.23 per cent towards the police. Residents in band D properties now pay £246.56 a year towards the service. 

Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said: “During the pandemic we saw a significant increase in the number of people using our website and calling 101, however, there are many people who continue to see the value in face-to-face contact within the reassuring setting of a police station.

“I am pleased that we will be continuing to explore further options of increasing our access through call centres and other digital mediums, as well as the exciting potential to open more front desks in the years to come.”

Chief Inspector John Shuttleworth has been tasked with rolling out the openings and ensuring consistent opening hours across the existing nine public enquiry offices.

He said: “Getting the front offices up and running will take a little work to employ some new staff, get them trained and organise for the police stations to be fitted with appropriate furniture and front counters, but by the end of the year we will start to see them fully functioning.”