Stevo Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 The police station is fully staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, the counter is not - it is open 8am-midnight Sunday-Thursday and to 4am on Friday & Saturday nights. The reason it was closed on Saturday during the day was due to staff holidays, but it was open from 6pm onwards, which is the busier part of a Saturday. If you arrive at the police station and the door is closed (which can happen during lunch breaks, etc) all you have to do is phone the number on the sign on the door and you will be put through to whoever is answering the phones. They can then radio a Shetland officer to come back to the station to speak to you if they are available. Likewise, if you phone in and get put through to a different station, just tell them what you need and they will immediately pass on your message to a local officer. There is no need for 24 hour counter cover in Lerwick, but be assured there is always 24 hour police cover. Thank-you for the Info... Anonymous Police Worker! However your version of events seems far to straight forward and easy. Sorry to say it but in reality this does NOT happen and it isnt as simple as this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 If you arrive at the police station and the door is closed (which can happen during lunch breaks, etc) all you have to do is phone the number on the sign on the door and you will be put through to whoever is answering the phones. http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/images/2006/09/26/mk_vandalism_470_353x470.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 if the choice is between a counter service when its low demand or an extra cop lets have the extra cop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owre-weel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 The police station is fully staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, the counter is not - it is open 8am-midnight Sunday-Thursday and to 4am on Friday & Saturday nights. The reason it was closed on Saturday during the day was due to staff holidays, but it was open from 6pm onwards, which is the busier part of a Saturday. If you arrive at the police station and the door is closed (which can happen during lunch breaks, etc) all you have to do is phone the number on the sign on the door and you will be put through to whoever is answering the phones. They can then radio a Shetland officer to come back to the station to speak to you if they are available. Likewise, if you phone in and get put through to a different station, just tell them what you need and they will immediately pass on your message to a local officer. There is no need for 24 hour counter cover in Lerwick, but be assured there is always 24 hour police cover. The opening hours you list do seem sufficient in normal circumstances. However I am concerned at what seems to be a new attitude of not covering these for holidays, lunch hours etc. surely these are and can be planned in advance. Now if I'm stopped by the police and asked to take my documents into the station, which I'm likely to do in my lunch hour, I for one would not be happy to arrive at the station to find it closed, then have to find a working phone (not everyone has a mobile) and spend my lunch hour waiting for a busy policeman to leave what they are doing and come back to the station, assuming one is available. I would also be pretty annoyed if I had to travel a distance, at time and expense, to Lerwick to find it closed and that no one is available. I agree there is no need for 24 hour cover, but this reduction in service is only likely to get worse if the easy option of not covering holidays, lunch hours etc are accepted as the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Simple.answer really. Ring first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owre-weel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 if the choice is between a counter service when its low demand or an extra cop lets have the extra cop.I couldn't agree more paulb , but there is no mention of this being a cost cutting exercise. If cost cutting is the reason then it would be more sensible to cut the regular hours and advertise accordingly, that way the public will know what they are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owre-weel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Simple.answer really. Ring first.Unfortunately Pete I don't think you are seeing the full picture. The OP questioned why the station was closed when it would have normally been open. A helpful shetlinker gave details of why the door may be found to be locked at times. My issue is that this is a public service which we all pay for and there is no reason why the counter operating hours cannot be scheduled in advance, even if these have to be cut to make savings. Would you expect to turn up to other services such as leisure centres, library etc, to find the doors locked because the receptionist was on holiday. The whole idea of providing public services is to do just that. We should not have to phone ahead. I don't think we should have to second guess the opening hours of such an important service, it's not rocket science to advertise and staff agreed operating hours. The alternative is likely to be a continued erosion and confusion of the service to the public. Surely this is a management issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 But turning up at a library and finding it shut after a long journey may realise a tiny financial penalty. Alas, something as important as your licence, a motoring offence and points, dearer insurance, I would check first.Then that could just be me. In response to you. I am quite fond of my licence. Points will only increase the cost to the public purse, in my case as, I drive many types of council vehicles. There are very few times you need to verify your documents, the last time I remember doing so was in the mid 90's. Ah well, a one off, never mind really. Not a big deal. They are shutting front desks here at an alarming rate. We get used to it, we get used to the fact as well, that other staff man the desk and not a warranted officer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piggywiggie Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Pete, in the original post it says the person was told to go there at that time and it was shut. Surely if they were told to go there then would make anyone assume they were open! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 But the comment was.... Now if I'm stopped by the police and asked to take my documents into the station, which I'm likely to do in my lunch hour, I for one would not be happy to arrive at the station to find it closed, then have to find a working phone (not everyone has a mobile) and spend my lunch hour waiting for a busy policeman to leave what they are doing and come back to the station, assuming one is available. Which is what I was commenting on. Now, we can make up any scenario to make the point we need to make... Alas, now, the counter was shut and folk now think badly of the police but not enough to complain?? If you commenting on the fact that someone was asked to go to a place at a certain time, and it was shut, why then make up stuff to elaborate what we already know, alas, I guess that is already known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owre-weel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 But the comment was.... Now if I'm stopped by the police and asked to take my documents into the station, which I'm likely to do in my lunch hour, I for one would not be happy to arrive at the station to find it closed, then have to find a working phone (not everyone has a mobile) and spend my lunch hour waiting for a busy policeman to leave what they are doing and come back to the station, assuming one is available. Which is what I was commenting on. Now, we can make up any scenario to make the point we need to make... Alas, now, the counter was shut and folk now think badly of the police but not enough to complain?? If you commenting on the fact that someone was asked to go to a place at a certain time, and it was shut, why then make up stuff to elaborate what we already know, alas, I guess that is already known.Pete I apologise if you don't agree with my opinion and thoughts on the matter, but if I'm honest, I really don't care what happens in your neck of the woods. My interests are in the service provision in Shetland and how this can be done in a manner which causes as little difficulty to the end user as possible. No one is thinking badly of the police, as you put it, but clearly a service is being eroded, when it could easily be done in a more effective manner which causes less difficulty to its customers. I can't see why you have a problem with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 It would be interesting to hear from the police exactly why they were closed when they should have been open. After all something like "too many staff on holiday" is pathetic but "everyone was involved in sorting out the serious incident you are doubtless well aware of" would not be unreasonable. If I turned up to produce documents and got the first excuse I would be inclined to think that I had done my bit and they could come to me for a look at them. Obviously if I got the second excuse I would accept it with reasonably good grace although I might be inclined to wonder if we have sufficient officers and ancillary staff to cope with a serious incident in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 You could do with looking further afield to see what is going on. Many responses to any thing that changes is shock and how could they, when they are posted on here. Police are humans, mistakes are made, so what. It is not that anyone was hurt or in trouble, vital police time was used more constructively so no one was in any risk, really. It would be interesting to note the usage of the front counter What goes on outwith Shetland should be a concern and could be acted upon before it arrives and can be too late. It could be a concern, but what if, they were shut, you had a working mobile, rang the number and an officer was there in 5 minutes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudden Stop Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Yeah c'mon folks. The administrative side of the police was shut for a couple of days - it's not the end of the world. So long as their emergency repsonse capability was not affected it's just a pain in the backside, that's all. Have you ever tried getting to a bank while they are open? Now that is a proper joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unlinkedstudent Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'm with owre-weel on this one. SP, you appear to be missing a crucial point, if not several. This isn't Mainland Scotland so it isn't like we can just 'pop up the road' to another police station. Not everyone has a mobile phone. Besides, all you need is a busy night in Wick and you could end up with all your available mobile credit being used up whilst on hold for the control room to answer, let alone their perhaps lack of local knowledge. IMHO, Shetland needs at least one police station open 24hrs and yes, I do mean with a front desk available during those times. Down here in the sarf end we don't have the same provision as we previously did, now that the local cop shop has been moved to the airport but it's a pretty poor show for our capital not to have adequate provision and cover when staff are on annual leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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