Wick and Thurso Police Stations Moving To Reduced Opening Times
5th March 2013
Revised opening times for eight police stations in the Highlands and Islands.
New opening times will come into effect in April 2013 for eight of Northern Constabulary's fifty police stations in an effort to provide the most effective and visible front-line police service.
Lerwick, Wick, Fort William, Dingwall and Stornoway front counters will be open from 8am to 8pm seven days per week. Reception opening hours for Thurso will be 9am to 5pm seven days per week and for Alness and Portree the hours will be 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness will be open on 24/7 basis.
Local officers will still be working out of the stations and actively patrolling communities. Members of the public are asked to make routine enquiries during reception open hours. Officers are always available 24/7 if they are required.
Chief Superintendent Julian Innes said: "Police will still maintain a visible presence in communities, working out of the stations, shared premises or on mobile patrols.
"Reception hours of stations will be tailored to actual demand as 95% of requests for service are made by telephone rather than counter calls.
"We encourage people to contact us during opening hours where they have a routine enquiry. However, if at any time people require a police response, that response will still be provided.
"People can still dial 999 in an emergency and for non-emergencies can still contact police on a 24 hour basis by telephoning any of the advertised non emergency numbers. Any stations without 24 hours reception staff will have external telephones available to the public so they can get immediate assistance if required.”
He went on to say: "Northern Constabulary is already highly efficient and have maximised resources into frontline policing over the past few years, which has allowed the Force to maintain Police Officer numbers at the highest possible level and continue to provide visible, localised policing services across the Highlands and Islands area.”
