Notts Police to replace detectives with civilian investigators

CID officers will be replaced by civilian staff under radical plans drawn up by Nottinghamshire Police.

The force has announced its vision for the next six years.

It has already made £42m in savings over the past three years because of budget from Governement, the force is braced to find a further £12.7m in savings in the next financial year and £30m in the next four years.

Notts Police has already shed 300 police officers and 400 support staff and closed a number of stations but announced further changes which include plans which include not sending police officers to the same number of incidents.

This said Chief Constable Chris Eyre could be achieved by having fire, ambulance and council staff in its control rooms to direct the relevant resource to a call if it was decided the police didn't get involved.

This, it is hoped, and the sharing of buildings by police and their partners, could reduce the 345,000 of incidents requiring police attention a year by 100,000.

Under the plans, which were jointly announced with county Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping, officers in CID will be redeployed within the police force as civilian staff take on investigatory roles the force says do not require somebody with a warrant to carry out.

Teams would be led by a detective and with a number of civilian staff taking statements and reviewing CCTV footage.

Mr Eyre said: "We need different types of staff. We need a mix of special staff who can deliver a better quality investigation, and better help and support to victims."

He said the civilian staff would be expected to maintain the same levels of confidentiality as police officers when investigating a case and any member of a team could be sacked and prosecuted for breaching confidentiality.

Mr Eyre said it was impossible to provide a breakdown of exactly how many police officers or civilian investigators there would be in the future until the force new after the General Election what savings it was required to make.

It expects to shed officers through natural wastage.

It has given a commitment to recruit 76 new officers next year.