Concern At Closing Of Police Station

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30900, 5 November 1965, Page 10

Concern At Closing Of Police Station

Upper Riccarton residents were concerned at the impending closing of the local police station, said Cr. A. C. Rhodes, Middleton riding councillor on the Waimairi County Council. Cr. Rhodes said that the Upper Riccarton station was to be closed after the opening of the new Hornby police station, which would maintain a service with patrol cars.

“Many people have told me, and I share their views, that they do not like the idea of being without a local constable,” said Cr. Rhodes. “We feel that a local constable is a well-known figure, and a man who plays an important part in maintaining law and order in his area. “We feel that it would be a retrograde step to replace him with a patrol system. “I intend to raise the question at the next meeting of .the council to see if we can I get the Upper Riccarton staItion retained.” Police View

“We do not consider it a retrograde step to replace three constables with six, plus a senior-sergeant and a radio patrol car,” said the officer-in-charge of the Christchurch police district (Chief-Superin-tendent G. W. Alty).

The seven police officers at the new Hornby station would provide a service to the public from 7 a.m. each day to 1.30 a.m. the following day. This would soon be extended to a 24-hour-a-day service.

The Hornby station would be opened on November 10, Mr Alty said. The officer-in-charge would be SeniorSergeant C. G. Evans, who would live in a house at the rear of the station. The two constables at the existing Islington Police Station, which would be closed, and the constable at the Upper Riccarton Police Station, also to be closed, would work from the Hornby station. However, the constables would continue to live in the police houses they at present occupied at Islington and Upper Riccarton. Local Knowledge

“The other three constables to serve at the new Hornby station also live in the district, so that all the men will have knowledge of local persons and conditions. “The radio patrol car will be in communication with the Hornby and Christchurch Central Police Stations. Police stations today are only as far away as the nearest telephone to the person wanting the police.” Mr Ally added. “The telephone number of the Hornby station will be 24-260. If a person calls that number and there is no reply, he or she should call the Central Police Station, which will be in radio communication with the Hornby station patrol car. “Of course, in a matter of life and death, it is well known that persons should use the 111 emergency service, which operates through the Central Police Station. “The new Hornby station is at 460 Main South road, just west of Denton Park. The station will serve an area, including the old police subdistricts of Islington and Upper Riccarton, bounded by the Waimakariri river in the north. Memorial avenue in the east, Middle Lincoln road in the south, and Weedons road in the west.”

Mr Alty said that about 31,450 persons lived that area at present, and the population was expected to double within the next 10 years. The Police Department planning took into account population increases, and the new Hornby

station had been planned and sited for a number of years because of the big population in the area and the growing population. The constables who had served at the Islington and Upper Riccarton stations would still be living there and would, normally, conduct inquiries in those areas because of their local knowledge. “Islington, Upper Riccarton, and adjacent areas will receive much better service from the police because local policemen will be on duty longer hours and, with a radio patrol car, be quicker on the scene from a central base,” Mr Alty said.