26/3/2008

Surrey Local News

Changes in policing divisions imminent

The shape of policing across Surrey is undergoing change

THE redrawing of Surrey’s police divisions is due to take effect from next Tuesday, resulting in the loss of some back office posts but with bosses insisting that no frontline jobs will be cut.

Boundary changes within the county's police force, originally announced in January, will see the number of divisions drop from four to three.

The new West Surrey division will take responsibility for Guildford, Waverley, Woking and Surrey Heath.

Epsom and Ewell is moving from North to East Surrey, joining Reigate and Banstead, Mole Valley and Tandridge.

Runnymede will move into the North Surrey division alongside Spelthorne and Elmbridge.

Re-posting of officers will mean some Targeted Police Teams (TPTs) will be shifted from West to North.

However, Chief Superintendent Sue Warren said this was due to Runnymede borough moving in the same direction.

Natural wastage

The teams are Surrey Police's first line of response to urgent incidents, and are made up of experienced officers who have scene preservation gear and public order equipment.

West Surrey division will still have 150 officers working in TPTs, which were allocated using a system of placing staff near demand.

“This is a new change programme and if we find we are not meeting the demand or meeting it well, then we will seek to realign them,” Ch Supt Warren said.

Back office posts will be cut from intelligence, the senior command teams and the public relations department.

However, no-one will actually lose their jobs as cuts will be made through natural wastage.

No closures

West Surrey will be the biggest of the three police divisions in the county, with more than 415,000 residents, so it will have two operating bases in Guildford and in Woking.

As part of the change many administrative positions will move from Woking to Guildford.

Response teams will be relocated from Camberley to Woking, a move which Ch Supt Warren said was aimed at having officers closer to higher demand.

However, she denied there were any plans to close police stations in Woking and Camberley and sell off the land there.

“By the end of June we will have everyone in the right place doing the right job. We are trying to match our resource to demand," she added.

First printed in: Surrey Advertiser Online

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