20/02/2004

Security Minister welcomes police training college decision

Security Minister Jane Kennedy has welcomed the Policing Board's decision to locate the new police training college in Cookstown, Co Tyrone.

The new centre will built on a 210-acre site beside a food science centre at Desertcreat on the outskirts of the town and is expected to open in 2007 at a projected cost of about £80m. It replaces the current facilities at Garnerville in Holywood, Co Down.

The Minister said the decision was an important milestone along the way to fulfilling the rcommendation of the Patten Report.

"PSNI officers deserve nothing but the best to meet the demands and pressures of modern day policing and a new purpose-built police college will provide future recruits with the most up-to-date facilities to study and train," she said.

Welcoming the decision, Policing Board Chairman, Professor Desmond Rea added: “The approval of the site is a critical step on the road to making the Police College vision a working reality.

"It was the Board’s job today to consider the recommendations presented by the Police College Project Board and decide if the Desertcreat site was most suitable for delivering a 21st Century police training facility capable of meeting the needs of a 21st Century police service.”

A proposal for the new location was endorsed after the Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton, put it to a full meeting of the Policing Board in Belfast.

(MB)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

07 February 2003
New police training college gets go ahead
The Northern Ireland Policing Board has set in motion plans to introduce a new police training college for the PSNI by 2007. The college has been advocated for months by PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde who said that the move was essential if Northern Ireland were to develop a world-renowned police force.
29 January 2003
Police training college a step nearer
The PSNI today took the first step towards establishing a site for a new Police Training College. An advertisement placed seeking tenders for possible sites has invited expressions of interest for the provision of an 80-90 acre site within a 30-mile radius of Belfast.
23 June 2016
Police Officers Disciplined For Failing To Tell Doctor About Woman's Head Injuries
Two police officers have been disciplined after they failed to let their colleagues and a police doctor know that a woman had sustained a head injury, a Police Ombudsman investigation has concluded. The woman died from bleeding to the brain on 24 February 2014, the day after she suffered the injury.
04 September 2007
NI Policing Board Seeks Custody Visitors
The Northern Ireland Policing Board has launched a campaign to recruit Custody Visitors to join the Board’s Custody Visiting Scheme. The volunteer scheme, which operates throughout Northern Ireland, is a means of monitoring how people who are held in police custody are treated.
06 June 2003
Policing Board discusses new Training College
The Northern Ireland Policing Board has discussed the sighting of the new Police Training College at its monthly meeting yesterday.