Thames Valley forensic centre build underway
Work is officially underway on the Thames Valley Police forensic centre, the start of the build was marked by a ceremony of commencement.
The Bicester centre will merged all sides of the force's forensic expertise, with every team working under one roof. Work will be completed in early 2025.
This purpose-built centre in Bicester will become the main forensics hub for the force, containing laboratories, new digital technologies and dedicated training facilities.
Other features include new front-line digital forensic tools and systems, which will give investigating officers better and faster access to digital evidence.
Adoption of new technologies to speed up the examination of evidence and management of cases, to reduce the impact on victims and witnesses.
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When the centre is open the force will recruit new forensic staff in a bid to better streamline the service and functionality of the forensics department.
Kay Hannam, Head of Forensic Science for the force, said: “Forensic science can be the key to an investigation, in getting a case to court and delivering a timely outcome for the victim.
“Underpinning this programme of growth is our proposed new purpose built accommodation that will bring specialisms together under one roof. Here we will have the flexibility to expand our services to meet existing and future demand.
“This will be particularly important in areas such as digital forensics where we are seeing significant increases in demand and complexity year on year."
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