'A building doesn't catch criminals': Police and Crime Commissioner jumps to the defence of force

30 November 2022, 10:16 | Updated: 30 November 2022, 10:19

Crime Commissioner Festus Akinbusoye defends the police force in response to LBC's discovery

Bedfordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner justified the closure of police stations to Nick Ferrari, explaining that the millions of pounds used to run the stations could be put into "recruiting police officers" and "deploying them".

After LBC revealed that police stations are closing at the rate of one per week, Festus Akinbusoye, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire called in to defend the police force.

Mr. Akinbusoye began: “It’s fair to say that a police station does not catch criminals, police officers do.”

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He continued: “If you have ten million pounds, would you rather spend that money on a building that costs money to heat, to run, to operate?

“Or would you rather spend the bulk of that money on recruiting police officers, retaining those police officers and deploying them to be visible in communities, solving problems and being proactive?”

He then went on to reveal that there’s a “middle way”, explaining that “police hubs” are smaller units in communities that fulfil the function of police stations.

Nick interjected to read a text from a listener in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire who explained how after the closure of the local police station, “crime rocketed”, prompting Nick to ask Mr. Akinbusoye if this was true.

The Police and Crime Commissioner explained that, since the closure, he has “reinvested” in the area and that responses have “ increased” since installing a police hub.

Repeating his original point, he added: “Buildings do not chase criminals, police officers do.”

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