Police Shake-Up Sees Creation Of Single Division In North
A shake-up in policing in the North's been announced with two divisions merging to create the North East Division.
Aberdeenshire and Moray AND Aberdeen City will come together as part of the move which police chiefs say will strengthen local policing.
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council and a range of local partners were consulted as part of the move.
In response to feedback, Police Scotland says it will further strengthen its commitment to local partnerships through the introduction of a new Superintendent role to oversee and further build on these partnerships, a role crucial to maintaining the positive relationship with external stakeholders.
There will be no change to the Local Area Command structure and the focus will remain on the effective delivery of local policing, with performance reporting continuing to be undertaken at a Local Authority level.
Assistant Chief Constable Derek Robertson, who is in charge of Local Policing in the North, said:
"We believe the creation of a single division will mean that a more flexible approach to the deployment of officers and will enhance our capability at an operational level, enabling us to strengthen the local policing we provide to communities across the North East. Over the last few years there has been a close co-operation between both divisions and their Commanders in order to deliver the most efficient use of resources. Already there are some services which are being shared and we believe that the new division will enable even greater co-operation and better serve our communities in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire and Moray."
It is anticipated that the new division will be created in January 2016.
But, North East Labour MSP Lewis MacDonald has condemned the move saying its "disappointing".
He says "Police Scotland's decision to merge the two North East Divisoins is a disappointing one, and there is hard work ahead for local officers to ensure that policing standards are not affected.
"The commitment to maintain the North East headquarters at the Queen Street site in Aberdeen for the immediate future is to be welcomed.
"Clearly, decisions will need to be made about the relocation of the North East headquarters when the lease on the current Queen Street site comes to an end, and I will continue to engage with Police Scotland in an effort to ensure that a strong presence is maintained in the city."