Police streamline 999 call-outs
EMERGENCY response police officers are due to work from nine Suffolk stations next spring instead of the current 23 bases.The new 999 locations will be at Ipswich, Stowmarket, Woodbridge, Bury St Edmunds, Halesworth, Lowestoft, Sudbury, Haverhill and Mildenhall.
EMERGENCY response police officers are due to work from nine Suffolk stations next spring instead of the current 23 bases.
The new 999 locations will be at Ipswich, Stowmarket, Woodbridge, Bury St Edmunds, Halesworth, Lowestoft, Sudbury, Haverhill and Mildenhall.
The move will take place as part of a number of structural and technological measures aimed at keeping officers out on the street for longer and improving response times to incidents.
Among the other changes will be the use of personal digital assistants for officers so they can access, and key in, information remotely without having to return to police stations.
Another new piece of technology, an Automatic Vehicle Locator System (AVLS), will enable the control room to see where the nearest police vehicle is when an emergency call comes in.
The force has stressed there are no plans to close any police stations due to any new working practices.
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Assistant chief constable Gary Kitching said: 'Public surveys have shown that the main concern local people have about their police service is how we respond to emergency calls.
'They also want to see a visible police force, which is engaging with local communities and is dealing with the investigation of crime in an efficient and effective way.
'In Suffolk, our response times to 999 calls are already excellent and public confidence in our service is high. Our 30 Safer Neighbourhood Teams are working closely with partners and communities to deal with problems highlighted by people and are providing a visible presence countywide.
'However, we need to continue to meet the demands of the public and also remain in line with the nationally set policing pledge. To ensure we can do this, a project named 'Project Response' has been set up to look at how we respond to and investigate incidents, to make sure we have the right people in the right place at the right time.
'It is expected that this change will be put in place in spring 2010. A comprehensive patrol plan has also been developed to ensure appropriate coverage across the county at all times and will involve the same number of officers as before.'
