CAMPAIGNERS DETERMINED TO retain the Aberdeen and Inverness police call centres took to the streets in protest at the weekend.
A threat over the future of the centres remains despite their closure having been suspended in the wake of a damning report on call handling in the wake of the M9 tragedy.
Protestors took to the streets in Aberdeen at the weekend to voice their backing for a Press and Journal newspaper campaign that both centres remain open.
Emergency calls from Moray are handled from Aberdeen – and there are local fears that response times and accuracy will suffer should the centre close in favour of a centralised service.
The Aberdeen and Inverness closures were temporarily halted after a damning HMICS report on the deaths of Lamara Bell and her partner John Yuill, who were left in their vehicle on the M9 for three days after it left the road – despite their crash being reported to police within hours of it happening.
A weekend protest over the threat to the call centres was organised by members of Unison and supported by local MSP Lewis Macdonald.
Mr Macdonald said: “These services really matter to the public in the north east and, of course, the jobs matter to the people who are doing them so well.
“It was particularly good that this campaign is supported by colleagues from control rooms in Dundee and elsewhere in Scotland, because everyone in the police service knows that if these closures happen they will have a knock-on impact on the service across the country.”
Over 600 people have so far signed the P&J petition to retain the call centres. The petition can be signed online.