Worried about crime? Now you can just pop in for a Cop-puccino!
VICTIMS of crime will be able to report it to police in a Costa coffee shop under a new ‘engagement initiative’.
Police will also chat to members of the public informally ‘over a cup of tea or coffee’ at regular two-hour sessions.
Officers say they are seeking to ‘engage… particularly [with] those from harder to reach groups to ensure that policing is inclusive to all’.
But the move comes as swathes of police stations across Scotland are closed or shut to the public in a bid to save cash.
The coffee shop scheme is to be launched later this month in Glenrothes, Fife.
Costa Coffee in the Kingdom Shopping Centre will host the sessions, which police say will ‘allow the public to speak with officers, raising any concerns, issues and ideas they may have for policing’.
People will be able to report crimes to officers or raise wider concerns about local policing and crime levels.
The first session will be held at noon on January 30 and the plan is to repeat the event on a monthly basis. Community officers ‘will be on hand to offer advice and guidance to anyone who may have questions or concerns about local policing in the area’.
Sergeant Chris Mutter said: ‘We understand that we need to be flexible so that we can engage with the diverse communities that live in our area, and it is hoped that by meeting with local officers in this way people will feel comfortable coming to discuss their views in an informal setting.’
Sandy Gourlay, Costa’s charity and community manager, said: ‘Our community programme was developed to help support stores play an active role in the communities they serve and we look forward to welcoming the Fife division into store soon.’
The local station in the town has been closed, and incorporated into the Glenrothes divisional headquarters. In 2015, Police Scotland revealed an ‘estate strategy’ which would see the force reduce floor space occupied by 25 per cent, with an estimated annual saving of between £5million and £18million, and sale of the properties generating between £22million and £34million.
Former Scottish Police Authority chairman Andrew Flanagan told the Mail in 2016 that people were ‘reassured’ by police stations ‘but the reality is they don’t go to them… they use the phone or speak to an officer in the street’.
He said ideas had been tested for bases in other settings and did not rule out gyms, saying: ‘If that’s what’s working for people, good.’
But victims of crime campaigner John Muir, whose son was stabbed to death, said: ‘What next – loyalty cards for people who come back to Costa to report more crimes?
‘If it is a sensitive matter, people will want to report a crime in a police station, not in a busy coffee shop. It’s demeaning. This is all about shutting stations, reducing the standard of service.’