THE axing of front office services at Welwyn Garden City Police Station, and other cost-cutting measures, have been defended by Hertfordshire Police Authority.
Cash-strapped police announced they would cut a number of front offices across the county, as well as shut some police stations completely, including Potters Bar, in a bid to bridge a four year funding gap of �36m.
And now police authority chairman Stuart Nagler has backed the plan.
He said: “We have already agreed to close and sell four stations; Potters Bar, Baldock, Bushey and London Colney, and the next step is to rationalise the number of front enquiry offices across the county.
“Demands for these services have fallen in recent years with the advent of new technology and the increase in the number of alternative ways to contact the police, and we believe we can save over �500,000 a year, which can be put into our other frontline services.”
He added: “I want to make it quite clear to the public that no community will see a drop in the numbers of police officers and Pcsos.”
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