The new Southampton central Police station opened for business to the public on Monday, March 7.
At 2pm the new state of the art Southampton Central police station welcomed it's first personal callers as the front desk opened to the public. At the same time the old station at the civic centre shut.
It is likely to be one of the last new police stations in the country for sometime and when work started on the station there was a very different economic climate. However, the new building provides modern, purpose-built facilities which allow us to centralise many policing services under one roof for the first time, bringing greater operational efficiencies.
The building will also be the area’s local headquarters for the police and was funded by Hampshire Police Authority. The eight storey building has taken a number of years to come to fruition and has been built over the last 18 months and is a landmark building for the city. It will offer officers and staff who work there a much improved working environment than the former Southampton Central police station at the civic centre which first opened back in 1933.
The new building replaces old outdated facilities at the Civic Centre with state of the art accommodation in a new, purpose built head quarters, providing modern and efficient facilities for the 21st century.
Over the last month staff have been gradually moving into the building which will house teams ranging from the Intelligence Unit and specialist teams to response officers and administration functions. It's also hoped over time some partner agencies who also work closely with the police such as Hampshire Probation Service will also have teams based at the new building.
By having more teams based in the same building rather than spread out across the city it will make it easier for them to work together more closely and further reduce crime across the city further. The building is also home to Hampshire’s largest custody centre.
With 36 cells it’s expected the high quality facility will be a blueprint for other forces looking at their custody provision.
The custody centre started in operation at the end of February and is already taking in those arrested. The old custody centre at the civic centre is being gradually decommissioned and will be handed back along with the rest of the old building to the City Council at the end of March.
Watch our tour around the new building on YouTube by following this link.
“The new building will increase police efficiency and reduce costs by combining a wider range of operations in on location the building also provides a very impressive number of ‘green’ credentials.”
Hampshire Police Authority Chair Jacqui Rayment said: “I am extremely proud of the new state of the art Southampton Police Station which represents a major investment in the city by the Police Authority, meeting the needs of the public by providing modern and efficient facilities for police services in Southampton and the surrounding area.
Southampton Police Commander, Chief Superintendant Matthew Greening said: "It's fantastic for the city that we now have a professional, modern and efficient police station.
“As fantastic as the new station is, it’s important to remember that it's just a building and it's the people who work in it and the officers and staff who go out on patrol from it who make the real difference. I am delighted we have this new station, not just for us but for the city as a whole. "
Around 450 staff are expected to be based in the building.
The new address is Southampton Central Police Station, Southern Road, Southampton SO15 1HA. The front counter is open to the public from 8am until 10pm seven days a week.
