Grampian Police open pioneering custody facility: Fraserburgh
(AB43 - Monday, 24 August, 2009)

On Friday 21 August 2009, Grampian Police will officially open its new, extended custody facility at Fraserburgh Police Station.

The installation of these 'modular cells' - which incorporates a prefabricated structure - is a significant development for Grampian Police with the force being the first in Scotland to utilise this technology in a live operational environment.

Only one other force in the UK, Thames Valley Police, has similar custody facilities although it is anticipated that the modular cell approach will become more widely used by UK Forces due to the very high standard of the product and the speed by which these units can be deployed operationally.

Grampian Police has received a number of queries from other UK Police Forces seeking to visit Fraserburgh in order to view the new cell facility in operation.

The force is, therefore, confident that this high quality and flexible custody solution will prove to be a popular policing security solution in other areas where there is a need to modernise or upgrade custody facilities, as was the case in the Buchan area.

Inspector Colin Christie of the Force's Criminal Justice and Support Division, said:

"The introduction of this new facility will greatly enhance the way we control and supervise persons in custody in the Buchan area.

"This development has given us an extra 10 cells, taking our capacity up to 15 in Fraserburgh.

"This means that Fraserburgh has become a 'primary custody station' along with Queen Street, Aberdeen and Elgin, where custodies are held overnight prior to an appearance in court the next lawful day.

"The new facility will be staffed 24-hours a day by specialist police custody personnel and Police Custody and Security Officers (PCSOs).

"I'm very proud that Grampian Police is pioneering this new facility and am confident that this will help us to considerably improve our service in the area.

"The new cells arrived at the end of June, having been transported by road from South Wales.

"Within a few days the units were lifted into place and successfully installed and connected to the existing cell block at Fraserburgh.

"Their portability means they can be moved again to another site in the future if required."

The media is invited to attend the official opening of the new facility on Friday 21 August 2009 at 1pm.

Present will be Councillor Martin Greig, convener of the Grampian Joint Police Board, Chief Constable Colin McKerracher, Assistant Chief Constable Colin Menzies and other staff from Grampian Police.

Police Force: Grampian

Address:
Fraserburgh Police Station
Finlayson Street
Fraserburgh
Tayside
Aberdeenshire
AB43