Dundee’s councillors are to be asked to throw their weight behind a campaign to retain the closure-threatened police counters at Longhaugh and Maryfield police stations.
An item asking the council to express its concern at the recommendation by Police Scotland has been placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources Committee.
The motion has been placed by Labour councillor Lesley Brennan, whose attempt to have the matter discussed at last week’s meeting of the committee arrived too late for it to be considered.
Ms Brennan said: “The council must speak out against proposals to end the public counter service and to reduce the hours of provision at several police stations in the city.
“Police stations are focal points in local communities, where local problems can be addressed by local police staff with very good knowledge of the local area.
“The public counter service is a vital part of community policing in which local communities and local police work together against crime.”
Last week the plans were severely criticised by Unison’s Drew Livingstone, the union’s Police Staff Scotland services and conditions officer in Dundee, who described them as a “toxic issue”.
Mr Livingstone wrote to all Dundee councillors urging them to oppose the closures, which he says will leave the public with no police counter service between Bell Street HQ and Arbroath, which he said was “shocking”.
He has now written to all councillors in Tayside asking them to oppose the plans.
Ms Brennan’s motion asks the committee to express its concern that at the Maryfield Police Station and at the Longhaugh Police Station in Dundee, the counter service provision is recommended for closure.