REPRIEVEDPOLICE STATION CLOSED TOTHE PUBLIC

Dunmurry was on a list of stations across Northern Ireland being considered for closure in a review by the PSNI, along with Hillsborough. But in March the District Commander, Chief Superintendent Henry Irvine, told a public meeting in the village he had recommended to senior PSNI command that Dunmurry remain open “due to operational reasons”.

However this week the Area Commander, Chief Inspector Darrin Jones, announced that from last Monday the limited opening hours at Dunmurry were being withdrawn and anybody wanting to speak personally to police will have to go to Lisburn PSNI station.

He said the Neighbourhood Policing Team will remain based at Dunmurry and will be supported by response officers from Lisburn ‘to continue to provide a quality service to the area’.

Chief Inspector Jones said the decision had been taken “as a direct result of research showing that the station was simply not being used by the community to report crime.

“As Area Commander I must maximise the quality of service provided by my officers and I can no longer justify the removal of officers from patrol duties for 12 hours per week to staff an enquiry office which is not being used.

“Members of the public constantly tell us that they want more police officers back on the beat to respond to the crimes that matter to them the most - anti-social behaviour, burglaries and car crime. This decision will assist us in our efforts to do exactly that.

“This is about ensuring that we have the right people, in the right places, at the right time. It will not mean a reduction in service.”

However MLA Trevor Lunn, a member of the Policing Board, described the decision as a total surprise.

He said: “As a member of the Policing Board I believed we had all the up to date information about all these stations.

“I would urge the area commander to have a re-think. People in that area deserve a working police station.”

And Councillor Margaret Tolerton, who was chairman of the DPP when the review was going on, said she was disappointed the public would not be able to go to Dunmurry Police Station.

“I would hope that further discussions would be taking place amongst the police and the local community to ensure the best policing service is still available to them,” she said.”

However Alderman Jonathan Craig, who is also on the Policing Board, described the move as a re-think by the police. He said there would still be a presence at the station for anyone needing advice.

“There has been an issue about this for quite a while,” he said. “People were not even aware of the opening hours at the station.

“Civilian security staff will still be there offering advice and they will relay any queries onto the PSNI.

“There are not many things that you still need to do at a police station that you cannot do via the internet or phone. If its an urgent issue the presence at the station will deal with the query.

“This is just a different way of accessing Dunmurry Police Station.”

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