Chief Superintendent Jo Smallwood, West Midlands Police, and Barry Thurston, Director of Service Delivery, West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Photo: West Midlands Ambulance Service.
An ambulance preparation and maintenance hub in Birmingham has been presented with an award from West Midlands Police.
The ‘Secured by Design’ accreditation was in recognition of its build and layout, designed to reduce the opportunity for crime and anti-social behaviour. It was presented to West Midlands Ambulance Service at its newly-built premises in Hollymoor Way in Rubery.
It is the first of four hubs to receive such accreditation; the other three will follow at the recently constructed premises in Erdington, Willenhall and Coventry at dates to be confirmed.
‘Secured by Design’ is the official UK Police flagship initiative developed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and is based upon the principles of ‘designing out crime’. To achieve the award, West Midlands Ambulance Service worked in partnership with West Midlands Police to create a safe environment through effective design.
Chief Superintendent Jo Smallwood from West Midlands Police said, “I think the building is fantastic. The idea of purpose-built but also purpose-designed, not only for your business needs but also to work in collaboration with ourselves in the police service just shows how well we can operate together. The ambulance service has a purpose-built building but we in the police also know that you are in a secured location and also that the risk, in terms of criminality, is reduced to basically zero.”
Receiving the award on behalf of West Midlands Ambulance Service, Barry Thurston, Director of Service Delivery, said, “It’s a credit to the staff and the teams who have worked so hard on the ‘Make Ready’ scheme for the past two years. It is a validation of the efforts that are being recognised in this way.”
