This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Police communications centre opened
04/05/2004
A new state-of-the-art Lothian and Borders Police
communications centre was opened in Edinburgh today.
The new centre will handle all 999 and non emergency
calls in the Edinburgh and Lothian area.
First Minister Jack McConnell said that police officers
must be allowed to do the job that they signed up to do,
not waste their time being caught up in bureaucracy.
He said:
"What the people of Scotland want is more front-line
officers visible on their streets and trained police
officers detecting and solving crime. We must ensure that
every pound of public money goes towards providing that
service - not to unnecessary bureaucracy to run the
service.
"Reforming our police forces will let officers get on
with the job of policing, not being caught up in
unnecessary form filling. It will increase the speed of
response, ensuring people affected by crime will have
reassurance. And it will allow us to monitor both the
demands on our forces, but also the performance provided by
all our forces across Scotland."
He continued:
"I am delighted to open this new Communications
centre. It is essential that our police forces continue
their commitment to providing quality public services.
Initiatives such as this new centre are moving us towards
achieving that."