Fivemiletown looks certain to lose it's police station following a recommendation by the police that it should close.
The town's station, which is currently unmanned and only operating on a part-time basis, has been recommended for closure by the PSNI District Commander Chief Superintendent Michael Skuce, following a consultation process earlier in the year.
The District Commander presented his recommendations to members of Dungannon District Policing Partnership this week. The recommendations will now be presented to the Northern Ireland Policing Board early next year when a final decision on the future of a number of police stations across Northern Ireland will be taken.
While recommending closure, the Chief Superintendent also outlined a number of changes in how the town will be policed. He said these changes would help to enhance policing in the town.
Fivemiletown is currently covered by Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV), and one of the proposals will involve moving the monitoring of the cameras to Clogher Police Station. This will allow the cameras, which will also be enhanced, to be more closely monitored on a regular bases.
A further suggestion put forward is to create a 'Police Post' for police business in Fivemiletown which would complement neighbourhood policing teams.
The District Commander explained the rationale in providing such a base. He said members of the public do not regularly visit police buildings, and he believed there was no point in having police in buildings waiting for people to come to them. He would rather they were out on beat patrols on the streets.
However when officers are out and about dealing with issues, they have to return to their base station to put the information onto computer.
To give them a base in Fivemiletown to allow them to do this, one of the options is to rent or lease a room, with a broadband connection and a phone which police can use to carry out their necessary computer and administration work. There is also the potential to allow this room to be used by the public to make an appointment to see a police officer. Suitable premises still have to be identified in the town to provide this.
The third strand of the proposals put forward by the District Commander involves changing police patrol vehicles for neighbourhood officers, by providing them with a much more flexible vehicle.
The plan is to give them a small-sized van type vehicle, similar to a Volkswagen Caddy. The reason is that these officers do not need a high-performance vehicle, but they do need one which will allow them to carry their equipment. This type of vehicle would also allow officers to set up an area in the back of the van where they could speak to members of the public in comfort and confidence, rather than trying to take a statement or information in the back seat of a car, as is currently the case.
This will also be useful in the coming years when more and more data for officers will be available in a mobile format.
The District Commander emphasised that this type of vehicle will not be used as a replacement to the mobile police station; in fact he hopes to increase the number of hours per week that the mobile station visits Fivemiletown.
The area will also be served by a '24/7' police response team based at Dungannon, plus CID, crime teams and tactical officers, and a sector policing unit based at Clogher.
Chief Superintendent Skuce stressed policing was not about bricks, mortar and buildings, and he stressed that resources were best utilised working out in the community.
A spokesperson for Dungannon Policing Partnership explained that its members would meet in private to discuss the proposals put forward, and then make their report to the Assistant Chief Constable for consideration when the matter comes before the Policing Board early next year.
