Monday 17 February 2014

News Story

Surrey Police have opened a brand new 24-cell custody suite built to serve the eastern side of the county.

The £7.7 million project, located on Salbrook Road, Salfords is set to replace the 12-cell suite currently based at Reigate Police Station. It was opened by Dr Helen Bowcock, the High Sherriff of Surrey on November 1.

The site, located within the existing IO Industrial Estate was deemed the ideal place to fulfil the operational requirements of the police force based in East Surrey.

Superintendent Ali Barlow said: “The new custody suite at Salfords will help ensure officers from East Surrey are providing the best service to residents on this side of the county. The state of the art facilities will allow better management of detainees and enable officers to return quickly to duty.”

The suite has been a work in progress since the scheme was granted planning permission in July 2011, but the opening has been delayed several times.

MP for East Surrey, Sam Gyimah said: “It has been a long time coming but the custody suite is now ready to serve a very important purpose. The open day will prove that all the hard work has been worth it.”

The new custody suite will be open to the public during an open day on November 2 between the hours of 10am and 2pm. The day is set to include a display of functional police vehicles and a colouring competition for children.

Superintendent Barlow said: “Our commitment to delivering a first-class custody centre will be demonstrated in the new suite on Salbrook Road and we hope that those who are able to join us on the open day will get a chance to really see for themselves how the facility will work and serve the local community.”

If members of the public are unable to attend the open day, a virtual tour is available on the Surrey Police YouTube channel.

In a statement on their website, Surrey Police added: ‘the suite has been designed with the latest duty of care codes of practice and will enable officers to efficiently process and detain those who have been arrested, or those visiting to answer their bail conditions.’
Other custody suites in Guildford and Staines are already operational for officers serving in other areas of the county.

The Guildford suite houses 24 cells whilst the Staines unit is the smallest with 19 holding cells. Surrey Police have said this will ensure an even spread of custody suite facilities across the local area.

The Salfords suite is thought to be particularly high security with a total of 82 CCTV cameras and 72 security locks on site.

The Reigate and Banstead segment of the Surrey Police Force revealed on their Facebook page that it has taken a total of 50,820 hours over an eight month period to erect the custody suite, with each individual cell weighing in at four tonnes.


The cell facility will start operating when it opens its doors to detainees on Monday 4 November.

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