Police moving to The Cube as Corby station closes to the public

From tomorrow (Wednesday), the new police desk at The Cube will replace the existing enquiry desk at the police station in Elizabeth Street.

The move is an opportunity to bring together the service currently provided by police staff at the police station with other local services offered by Corby Council.

All enquiries from the public, including reporting crime and producing driving documents, will be made at The Cube.

The new office will be open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

Head of local policing, Superintendent Chris Hillery, said: “The new police desk at The Cube means we will be even more accessible for people who need to visit a police station or want information or advice.

“By being in the same place as the borough council, as part of their one stop shop customer service centre, we can more easily draw on the expertise of council staff and make sure people get the most appropriate help and advice.

“We get a lot of enquiries where we need to direct people to the council for further help and support, such as problems with noisy neighbours or housing issues.

“Being together in the same location will make it much easier for people to get that additional help, as they’ll simply have to move to another part of The Cube rather than walk across town.

“Fewer people now visit a police station in person, with most people preferring to contact the police by phone or online.

“However, we know it’s important to people to be able to speak to a police officer or member of staff in person if they need to and by moving to a shared location with the local council, this will make it even more accessible for people.

This approach has proved successful elsewhere in the county.

In Northampton, the enquiry desk has been located at the one-stop-shop at the Guildhall since February 2014 and in Kettering, it moved to the borough council’s customer service office in January 2015.

The move follows other changes to the force’s estate, including the opening of the new Weekley Wood Justice Centre and the adjacent northern accommodation building at the North Kettering Business Park.

The justice centre replaces outdated custody facilities at Corby police station and the office building provides accommodation to support policing in the north of the county, including CID and response.

Supt Hillery added: “While our response officers and detectives are now based at the new site, which is conveniently located just off the A43, our neighbourhood team remains in the town centre.

“We know it’s important to people that their community officers are visible, accessible and local and we are committed to ensuring they remain based in the communities they serve.

“As well as being locally based, working with partner agencies is crucial to successful neighbourhood policing.

“To enhance this partnership working, the Corby neighbourhood team relocated to Deene House earlier this year and is now based alongside the borough council’s community safety and neighbourhood management team.

“Police officers and PCSOs work alongside council colleagues, such as wardens and youth workers, helping them deal more effectively with local crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Based on experience in Northampton and Kettering, we know people have appreciated the more central location of the front office and its proximity to other services.

“In addition, the environment at The Cube is much more modern and welcoming, not only providing a more pleasant environment for those who visit the police desk but also ensuring a better working environment for our staff.”

Police and crime commissioner for Northamptonshire Stephen Mold said: “The Cube is an excellent facility and an ideal place to have a police enquiry desk.

“We know the use of enquiry desks at police stations has been falling significantly over the past few years as people choose to use alternative ways to communicate with the police.

“Having the enquiry desk at The Cube means the people of Corby have a much more accessible and convenient place to visit should they need support and advice from the police.”

Corby Council leader Tom Beattie said: “We are very pleased to be welcoming the Corby police helpdesk into the Corby Cube.

“We already work extremely closely with the local police, so much so that just earlier this year the community safety team moved into our Deene House offices, which has been a great success and beneficial for our officers, the police but most importantly the local community.

“The new helpdesk will add further to the services we provide within the Corby Cube and will give our residents confidence that their issues can be dealt with efficiently and effectively within the one building.

“We look forward to it opening later this week and look forward to adding to the range of information, help and advice that we offer within the Cube.”