Kingsbridge police station to reopen to the public

Kingsbridge police station will reopen by April 2024.  

Kingsbridge police station, which closed along with 10 other front desks in Devon and Cornwall in 2014, will reopen by April 2024 according to Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez.

Ms Hernandez has marked the reopening of police enquiry offices in Cornwall and Devon on Friday and Saturday, visiting Newton Abbot, Truro, Falmouth, Penzance, Bude and Tiverton.

A spokesperson for Kingsbridge Town Council said: "The Town Council was delighted to receive the news today from Alison Hernandez, Police & Crime Commissioner, that Kingsbridge Police Station has been selected as one of six stations which will have its front desk/enquiry office re-opening.

"This will provide greater visibility and improve the accessibility of the Police to the local community."

Ian Woods, Police Enquiry Office Supervisor at Falmouth and Penzance said: “Since we reopened police enquiry offices for the public in Falmouth and Penzance our communities have engaged well with us, visiting to report a wide variety of crimes, incidents and general reports.

"Our front offices are safe places for people to come if they need immediate assistance away from dangerous or challenging situations such as domestic abuse.

"We expect the number of people visiting the front offices to report crime will increase as more people learn that we are open, especially during June to September. We welcome this renewed opportunity to meet people face to face in our public enquiry front offices.”

A spokesperson for Bude and Bodmin enquiry office said: “When people come to the station and report incidences in person they often arrive visibly upset and need some reassurance. We’ve met members of the public who have been very grateful to see Bude Station reopened and we hear from people regularly when they come to report incidents about how much they appreciate the face to face interaction.”

Ms Hernandez said: “Having accessible police stations close to our communities is the missing part of the jigsaw in providing the neighbourhood model of policing that the Chief Constable and I support. 

“Although we experience some of the lowest crime levels in the country, drugs and antisocial behaviour are considerable issues for our communities. We want people to feel confident in telling us about the problems and challenges they experience before these issues escalate so preventative action can be taken. 

“Already crimes including non-recent historic offences have been reported at one of our reopened police enquiry desks, demonstrating that some people prefer talking to an officer in confidence and in person.” 

When not dealing with in-person enquiries, the newly recruited police enquiry officers are able to respond to non-emergency contact via online channels, so taking pressure off their colleagues in contact centres and reducing waiting times for the public. The latest round of openings has created an additional 26 part time jobs.

Police Enquiry Offices will reopen in Devonport, Looe, Ilfracombe, Honiton, Okehampton and Kingsbridge by April 2024. To find more information please visit www.dc.police.uk/contact/police-enquiry-offices