Force will axe custody suites to save money

West Yorkshire Police is following the lead of South Yorkshire by closing several of its facilities for holding people detained after arrest.

No final decision has yet been made on which custody suites will close, but there will now only be one such base for each of the county’s five districts and one overspill area covering Leeds and Bradford.

Both of Wakefield district’s custody suites will close to be replaced by a facility at the new divsional headquarters in Normanton, situated between the two.

One of the custody suites in Leeds will also close while the other will be used in times of extra demand. A suite covering the city will be at the new £35 million headquarters of City and Holbeck Division to be based at Elland Road.

Bosses say the changes, which include moving staff from eight-hour shifts onto 12-hour shifts with longer breaks, will allow the force to protect its funding for front line police officers.

The number of arrests made by West Yorkshire Police has dropped from 106,372 in 2008/9 to 79,132 in 2011/12 as a number of alternatives now exist for police officers, meaning there is less demand on custody facilities.

Changes to custody provision which started two years ago, including savings already made by the force, are expected to save £3.5 million. Changes to staffing structures at the force’s eight divisional control rooms, which are responsible for despatching officers to crime scenes, will save a further £1.5 million a year.

Chief Superintendent Andy Battle, who is leading the project, said the number of posts to be cut would be covered by existing vacancies, but that “one or two” staff could be transferred internally.