Police officers to access fire stations across Devon

In the event of Devon & Cornwall Police officers needing a place to speak to a member of the public away from the nearest police station or to access welfare facilities when on patrol, they will be able to use the county’s network of fire stations.

Station manager Lynn Foxwell, of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, said, “It makes sense that we share use of our fire stations with Devon & Cornwall Police, particularly where they don’t have a base. The public want to see us make the best use of facilities and expect us to work well together.”

The two services have been running a pilot in North Devon over the last 18 months and as of 1 August 2019 the agreement has been extended to include all Devon fire stations.

The Government has stated that there should be greater collaboration between emergency services and this is one of many ways in which the services are working more closely together.

Chief inspector Tom Holmes, of Devon & Cornwall Police, said, “This agreement will also provide emergency responders with the opportunity to meet each other outside of the operational environment of an incident, to develop working relationships and widen the team and is an exciting opportunity to strengthen our links with our rural communities.” 

The emergency services work to a jointly-agreed set of principles at incidents and developing those relationships in other environments will enable a greater understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities, benefitting the communities we serve.