Thefts of Dirt Bikes from GTPS Rear Yard Underscores Need for New Police Station

From RCIPS

Wednesday, 16 March 2016. The RCIPS is calling for renewed attention to the deteriorating conditions in which officers work on a daily basis at the George Town Police Station, which is not fit-for-purpose in terms of either security or design as a police compound.

To underscore this point, eight dirt bikes have gone missing from the rear yard of the police station since February 29 of this year. These bikes were recently confiscated as part of a police crackdown on off-road bikes around the island, and were chained with padlocks in a fenced area in the rear yard. Thieves cut through the chain and the fence locks to gain access to the bikes. Five of these dirt bikes were stolen last weekend.

“The rear yard of George Town Police Station was originally intended as a carpark, not a police compound,” said Kurt Walton, Chief Superintendent, “and the security for this area has been a problem for us since the 1990s. We continue to struggle with the limitations of providing 21st century policing with a building that has long exceeded its building life span.”

The George Town Police Station, built in 1974, is over forty years old, and has been condemned in parts due to “concrete cancer” in a 2010 structural engineering survey, which recommended a new police station. The rear yard is crowded with confiscated property and police cars, and simply does not provide enough space for the needs of a contemporary police station.

During a walk-through of both the station and the rear yard on Wednesday afternoon with the media, C/Spt. Walton spoke about security measures that have been undertaken, especially since the theft of contraband from the container in the rear yard last year. These include the addition of four feet of fencing with razor wire being added to the entire 650-foot perimeter.

END

Just after this release was written earlier today [Wed 16] and distributed to journalists who joined us for a walk-through of the GTPS rear yard this afternoon, three of the dirt bikes stolen last weekend were located by police in George Town.