Pioneering custody suite
Grampian Police has been inundated with requests from other forces wanting to see its new modular cell custody suite following its official opening on August 21 at Fraserburgh police station.
Grampian Police has been inundated with requests from other forces wanting to see its new modular cell custody suite following its official opening on August 21 at Fraserburgh police station.
The pioneering Wernick PCflex modular cells are prefabricated and largely built off-site before being fitted into place. The layout uses a generic format, but can be customised to the space available.
The design is popular for extending existing custody suites as they are straightforward to build and take down, while being secure and contemporary.
Only one other force in the UK, Thames Valley Police, has similar custody facilities. It is anticipated that the modular cell approach will become more widely used by UK police forces due to the high standard of the product and the speed with which the units can be deployed operationally.
The nature of the design makes them relatively simple to amend and they are expected to prove a popular policing security solution in other areas where there is a need to modernise or upgrade custody facilities.
Inspector Colin Christie of Grampian Polices 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 ten 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.
Im 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 Fraserburgh PCflex modular cell custody suite was designed, built and installed by Neath Abbey-based Wernick Buildings.
For further information call 01792 321222, email secure@ wernick.co.uk, visit www.pcflex.co.uk