At the council meeting of 27th June, Strathclyde Police Chief Inspectors Newbigging and Ritchie
(Strathclyde Police), provided Members with details of proposed changes
to the opening hours of particular Police Offices within North Ayrshire,
with the aim of maximising the number of officers on the street at busy
times. These changes include a proposal to alter the opening hours of the Kilbirnie police office down to almost a 9 -5 Monday to Friday service.
All councillors were concerned about the proposal and are very aware of the general publics concerns about the current service. Locally I have been contacted by a number of people complaining about delays in response times and a general lack of confidence on getting a response. The Police have worked hard locally in trying to improve communication and to get people to report incidents so these changes may be a step backward.
National measures to increase Police numbers are having little impact when the Police have been forced to cut the numbers of civilian staff in order to pay the wages of the extra officers. Officers are taken off patrol to the back office functions previously done by civilians.
