A Highlands MSP has branded police control room closures in Aberdeen and Inverness “entirely premature”.
John Finnie told the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee that expert analysis from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) in the wake of the M9 tragedy had “highlighted the need to retain” the call centres.
Police Scotland intends to scrap control rooms in both the Granite City and Highland capital this year, leaving all 999 and 101 calls to be answered in the central belt.
But yesterday, MSPs agreed to keep open public petitions calling for a halt to the closures, leaving open the possibility of an 11th hour intervention to save them.
Mr Finnie said: “We should keep these petitions open.
“It has been entirely premature for Police Scotland to have taken the decision they did with control rooms.
“Many people, myself included, believe the interim report form HMICS highlights the need to retain them so I would like to
keep them open.”
Thousands of people have signed up to campaigns calling for the call centres to be kept open, fearing that if they close local knowledge will be lost and lives could be put at risk – claims Police Scotland strongly deny.
In January, the force released an “indicative timeline” that suggests the Inverness call centre will be mothballed in August, with Aberdeen facing the same fate by October.
After the closures, 999 and 101 calls from north and north-east will be answered in one of three centres in the central belt, before being passed to Dundee who will then coordinate with local officers on the ground.
Plans to shut the centres had been put on hold after the M9 tragedy, where John Yuill and Lamara Bell were left stranded in their wrecked car – despite the crash being reported three days earlier.
HMICS recommended keeping the centres open until there is “independent assurance” over call handling procedures.
But Justice Secretary Michael Matheson rejected the suggestion that any such review could actually reverse the closure, raising fears that it is merely a “box ticking exercise”.