Police Scotland’s plans to relocate from their headquarters in Aberdeen take another step forward today.
After more than 45 years, the force’s public service counter has moved from Queen Street to Marischal College – offering people a “one-stop-shop” for police and council assistance.
The move is part of a wider £150million project to revamp Queen Street and turn it into a civic quarter, celebrating the culture and heritage of the area.
As well as transforming a key area of Aberdeen, Chief Superintendent George Macdonald said it would strengthen policing by allowing officers to work “shoulder to shoulder” with other agencies, such as social workers.
Move will improve ‘efficiency’
The police public counter will now operate from Aberdeen City Council’s customer service centre at Marischal College on Broad Street.
In the coming months, the force will completely move out of Queen Street and the 1970s building will be demolished.
Aberdeen City Council has ambitious plans to create a new space celebrating the culture of the area while creating new retail and residential opportunities.
Police staff will be relocated to Marischal College and Woodhill House, co-locating with the city and shire councils, and other existing stations across Aberdeen.
Ch Supt Macdonald believes the move will allow the authorities to provide a much more “efficient” service.
He said: “The transition to Marischal is very significant as we will be working shoulder to shoulder with a number of strands within the local authority, particularly because policing cuts across so many areas.
“The things that we deal with are often interlinked to criminal justice services, or linked to social work or education or a whole host of wider issues.
“The benefits of working in tandem in the same environment with some of those other professionals, in my mind, creates a far more efficient service so that we can understand some of the challenges, work together to deal with some of those challenges and fundamentally bring a better service to the public of Aberdeen.”
A ‘first class and positive approach’
The public services counter will be operate in Aberdeen City Council’s existing customer service point.
Although more people contact the force electronically, some still prefer to report matters face-to-face, and Marischal College is more accessible for those with disabilities.
Describing it as a “one-stop-shop”, Ch Supt Macdonald said the move means that instead of having to visit two or three offices to report a problem, members of the public may manage to get all their help in the one place.
For example, he said that someone with an issue about antisocial housing may also need to speak to the council’s housing team – who also work from the same building. He described the move as a “first class and positive approach.”
Not the end of policing in the city centre
Police staff and officers will continue working in Queen Street for the next few months, and will begin to move to other stations later in the year.
Ch Supt Macdonald stressed this is not the end of policing in the city centre.
“The Queen Street building is bricks and mortar – it’s the people that actually deliver the service and it’s the same people that’s going to be delivering the service at a slightly different location.
“It will be the same number of police officers that have always been in the city centre and it will be the same other support services that have always been here.”
It is the first time in Scotland that police and councils have integrated their services in such a way, and if successful the model could be replicated in other parts of the country.
Ch Supt Macdonald believes that the division is being seen as an “exemplar’, and added: “To be involved in it personally is something to be really proud of and it is actually quite exciting seeing it all come together.”