Opening Hours To Be Slashed At Glengormley Barracks

Further cuts are being proposed to public opening hours at a suburban PSNI station.

The shock move would hit Glengormley barracks - which originally went onto part-time opening hours three years ago - and will slash opening times from 11am to 1pm and 7 to 8pm, Monday to Saturday to just one hour, three days a week, from 7 to 8pm, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Sector Inspector Martin Ruddy told members of Antrim Line Community Policing Forum that the ending of contracts for Full Time Reserve officers early next year - as part of the Patten reforms - would mean a decrease in officers available to deal with callers at the station.

He said that to continue to provide staff to deal with callers over the current 18 hours a week would necessitate the redeployment of community policing officers, resources he believes would be put to better use providing policing 'on the ground'.

"No decision has been taken yet and we are seeking views on the proposal," said Inspector Ruddy, "and will be asking the Newtownabbey District Policing Partnership (DPP) members for their reaction."

He said if the decision was made, it would come into effect in the New Year, and whilst regrettable, the proposal was the best possible use of finite resources.

The officer suggested that keeping officers on the beat was a better option than keeping them in a fixed location waiting for callers: "It is 'police officers' who respond to an emergency call," he said, "and not physical 'police stations' that turn-out," he said.

"The numbers of callers are low at Glengormley, (around 20 per week) and few actually report crimes in person, with the vast majority of callers able to have their queries dealt with at the main Newtownabbey station," he insisted.

Inspector Ruddy was keen to point out that any reduction in opening hours would not affect the quality of service to the Antrim Line residents, as the same number of officers would be deployed on patrol from Glengormley Station.

But the news worried policing forum members whose concerns were voiced over the actual future of the local station.

"Given the imminent closure of police stations in Co Fermanagh, where the New Year will see just three PSNI stations left from a total of 13 less than two years ago, there are obviously worries about permanent closure of the station," said a spokesman.

However, the Inspector said that while "estates are constantly monitored" by the NI Policing Board and the Chief Constable, he insisted there aren't any plans to close Glengormley - even with the recent well-published shortfalls in the overall policing budget.

"In a hypothetical situation," he said, "any such closure - if mooted - would have to go to consultation with the local DPP and would take around a year to come into effect.

"There are currently no such plans," he said.

See: Four Fermanagh Police Stations Face Axe

(BMcC)