A new custody contract which will free up police officer time, strengthen safety in custody areas and offer better value for tax payers’ money went live today, Tuesday 2 June.
Resource Group was successful in winning the new three-year contract to provide flexible detention services for Staffordshire Police’s three custody sites at Etruria, Burton-upon-Trent and Watling Street in South Staffordshire.
Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis says the new approach builds on and adds to the previous arrangements but focuses on more cost effective flexible services that free up local policing time.
“As well as supporting day to day custody operations similar to those already in place, the new contract will release police officers from more tasks that used to take them away from policing communities for thousands of hours every year,” he said.
“Transporting suspects and collecting people who have been arrested by local police officers at busy times, such as Friday and Saturday evenings, are additional options that can be arranged under the contract, taking into account the cost and policing benefits on a case-by-case basis.
“Visible policing more often in more areas is a priority and the new contract, as well as the wider investment in new mobile technology, will help increase front-line policing time by thousands of hours every week across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Police officers will be able to stay on patrol and in local communities for longer as custody detention officers will take on tasks such as the monitoring of vulnerable detainees.”
Resource Group will also see its staff sign up to the police Code of Ethics, a first for custody detention officers in Staffordshire. Introduced nationally in 2014, the Code is used on a day-to-day basis to guide behaviour and decision-making by laying out principles and standards that everyone working in policing should aspire to.
Superintendent Simon Tweats, from Staffordshire Police, said: “The new contract will provide extra support for officers, enabling them to focus even harder on investigating crime and spending more time reassuring victims.
“It will mean a much stronger emphasis on swiftly bringing offenders to justice, reducing the amount of time suspects spend on bail. It will also build on and strengthen the safe detention of suspects, taking every opportunity to make necessary checks on their welfare and to work even harder with partner agencies in addressing any unmet health needs.”
Resource Group is the Police & Justice division of the NOONAN Group. The group has been established for 37 years, employs 14,500 staff and is the leading provider of Strategic Outsourced Services, operating throughout Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man. Resource was recently been successful in winning the contracts for Custody Detention Services with Thames Valley Police and Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Resource Group Director of Police and Justice Russ Smith said: “Resource Group are delighted to have been chosen to provide detention officer services for Staffordshire Police. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police have been forward thinking and innovative in the way they want this important service delivered and Resource Group are proud to be the chosen organisation to provide this.”
Resource Group were one of three companies, including previous provider G4S, to provide high-quality bids for the new contract. Almost all custody detention officers have transferred their employment to the new provider.
