Cutbacks '˜threat' to 999 police response

And its Terminus Road police station - which recently introduced limited opening hours - may become little more than offices.

Sources close to the constabulary claim that autumn has been earmarked for a radical change to the way Bexhill and Rother is policed.

One, the father of a serving police officer who asked not to be named, believes it could mean just seven officers being deployed to cover the whole 200 square mile Rother district, its 90,000 residents and its key towns of Bexhill, Battle and Rye.

He said: “My son has told me that come October any emergency calls will be at the mercy of whether or not a police officer has a permit to drive with sirens. Most of them don’t.

“In addition to that, the majority of these officers are being transferred into a new department and will become office-bound, working out of Hastings and dealing with enquiries generated by the few response officers on the ground, and only working until midnight.

“Bexhill police station will become an office block for back-office civilian staff, along with Neighbourhood officers who never work 24 hours nor respond to 999 calls. On top of all this, all CID officers (detectives) will be leaving Bexhill.”

An anonymous caller who admitted to being an ex-police officer made similar claims, and feared policing in Rother was facing imminent cutbacks.

Bexhill and Battle MP Greg Barker said: “To date I haven’t seen any proposals to restructure the local police, but I would be extremely concerned if there were any attempt to substantially downgrade cover in Bexhill.

“We must at all costs avoid damaging the level of service and policing that Bexhill residents have a right to expect and I will be seeking urgent clarification from our local police as to exactly what their plans are.”

Mr Barker said he would be surprised if the information were entirely accurate, as he had met Sussex Chief Constable Martin Richards in Bexhill some months ago to discuss savings in the police budget.

He said: “The Chief Constable expressed his personal confidence that this could be done without harming front-line services.”

Last September Sussex Police, faced with a 16 per cent cut in force funding, announced it would shed some 500 police officers and 550 staff countywide in a bid to save £52 million over the next five years.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “This September a restructure of policing across East Sussex will be implemented. The division is changing the way it works, but the quality of service the public receives won’t change.

“As part of Serving Sussex 2015, the Force is looking at how it can continue to provide an excellent service to the public by doing things differently, while meeting the financial challenge across the public sector.”

Rother District Commander, Chief Inspector Trevor Botting, said: “In September response officers will move from Bexhill to Battle police station but the changes will not impact on the ability of Rother police to respond to emergency calls.

“Response times should not be affected as the response teams will continue to be mobile, visibly patrolling across the district as they do now. The change will only affect where response officers start and finish their shift.

“After booking on at their base station and receiving a short formal briefing from their supervisor, they will be tasked to go out in the community for the rest of their shift.

“This new model will allow them to continue to attend emergency and priority calls but will have less paperwork and so they will be back out into the community more quickly.”

East Sussex will also see the implementation of RIT, the new Responsive Investigation Teams, who will be based in Battle and go live towards the end of September. RIT has already been successfully implemented in Brighton and Hove and more recently in West Sussex.

It allows secondary investigations to be streamlined and removed from front-line response policing. This means response officers will continue to attend emergency and priority calls but will then hand over the investigation and any prisoners to the RIT so they can get back on patrol.

Chief Inspector Botting said: “I’m pleased that there will be three RITs across East Sussex, based at Eastbourne, Battle and Hastings. RITs are operational officers and are not desk-bound, and will also go out to interview victims, witnesses and suspects.

“This is an opportunity to provide a high-quality crime investigation service to victims. It will reduce duplication and bureaucracy and the number of days it takes to investigate crime and will increase efficiency.”

Chief Inspector Botting added: “Throughout Bexhill, Battle and Rye, Neighbourhood Police Teams are unchanged. Their main role is to engage with the public which is more often done during the time when the community is available and wants to see the team.

“The fact they do not work nights does not make them any less effective in reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice.

“For example, on Wednesday officers from the Rother Neighbourhood Police Teams arrested a suspected burglar and thief in Battle and recently a man suspected of vandalising cars with a marker pen was arrested at 5am by Neighbourhood Officers deployed in an overnight operation.”

Following a review, the CID structure for East Sussex will change to a divisional based model, rather than district based.

Chief Inspector Botting said: “Rother CID team will move from Bexhill to Hastings in September. This will allow there to be a bigger pool of officers available to cover Rother at times of high demand.

“Our experienced and dedicated detectives will remain committed to supporting the policing operation on Rother, preventing and detecting crime and bringing offenders to justice”

“A review of police station opening hours, formal consultation with our staff and public consultation identified more efficient ways for Sussex Police to provide a front office provision for members of the public.

“A key point is the police station is not shut and officers are available to see members of the public by appointment or when they are available. “The Force must save £52 million by 2015; altering the hours that front offices are open is just one way in which it can save money and it makes sense to reduce them at stations which receive low numbers of visitors.

“In an emergency, or when the front office is closed, the public will always be able to contact us quickly either through 999 or the non emergency number, 0845 60 70 999.

“We have one of the best records of all forces in the country at answering these calls quickly, and attending emergency calls within the 15 minute target.”

• On May 9 this year, Bexhill police station introduced new opening hours for visitors - Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm and 3pm to 6pm. Battle and Rye’s new hours are Mondays to Fridays, 10am to 2pm. All three police stations are closed to the public at weekends and Bank Holidays.

Although reported crime has fallen over the past year, Bexhill has seen three separate murder investigations launched locally since January.

In the year April 2010 to March 2011, East Sussex saw 82 fewer dwelling burglaries, 301 fewer vehicle crimes, 730 fewer instances of criminal damage, 55 fewer people killed or seriously injured on the roads and 85 fewer actual bodily harm assaults.

East Sussex Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Robin Smith, said: “Although I am really pleased with these figures I want the community to know that an overall reduction in crime is not about meeting targets but is about serving the people of East Sussex in the best way we can.”