But… “The police say that they want to double the number of cells they have available in their custody suit from the current 15 to 30.” but they don’t say *why* they want to double the numbers.

As you know, in the report, all they say is:

4.4 [...] The current facility only provides 15 cells whereas at least 30 are required.

Why? Do they anticipate crime figures doubling in the next 40 years?

There are some interesting comments on the Cambridge News Online website from last month…

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=401660

or http://is.gd/uaCh

Collecting a list of locations of Police Stations could be interpreted as an offence under the Counter Terrorism Act 2008.

The requirement for more cells at Parkside has arisen from centralisation. A custody suite is very expensive to maintain and staff, so there are great savings to be made by consolidating them, and by only bringing some into use when they are needed.

I also wonder if finding out the location of other police stations (e.g. how many other cities have out-of-town ‘central’ police stations?) is an offence under anti-terrorist laws these days?

But mainly I wonder why the requirement for cells has doubled in the last 40 years? Has there been a commensurate increase in Cambridge population or are the police simply arresting more people? (One could then go on to wonder whether more arrests equals better or worse policing — but that’s not under consideration here, is it?)

Histon P&R looks a good place.