Supt Mark McEwan making changes to PSNI resources as budget cuts kick in
THE PSNI in Derry is to get a major restructure from next week in response to budget cuts.
Area commander Supt Mark McEwan is chopping his three neighbourhood teams in the city from Monday, September 21.
They will be replaced by what he calls ‘Critical Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
One CNPT will be rostered to look after the cityside while the other team will be responsible for the Waterside.
A similar cutback exercise is taking place in Strabane where one CNPT will replace two NPTs.
Strabane District’s two Neighbourhood Policing Teams will also be changed to just one CNPT unit.
Further changes are also to come into effect.
A number of responsibilities for licing neighbourhoods will transfer to new Local Policing Teams (LPTs).
Five LPTs will operate 24-hours-a day in the Derry area.
A further two will operate 24 hours a day in Strabane.
Strand Road PSNI’s enquiry office could also be closed at night following a review.
Supt McEwan said that the changes had been well received by officers on the ground.
“I have been really impressed by their attitude to this. Any questions we get have been, ‘well how do we make this work?’ I haven’t personally experienced any resistance from them, and in any change process of this scale that’s very unusual and I think that speaks to the quality of the officers we have here.”
He said that it wasn’t all about making financial savings but staff may go as the PSNI streamlines itself in the years to come.
“It’s all about making us more agile. There are other budgetary elements we need to look at- our overtime, best use of our resources and things like that.
“We think it will work, we need to make it work, and it should be more joined up. It allows response officers to develop a better geographical understanding of their area,” he added.
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