Ever since I was just a young child I remember that the police always had a number of nicknames associated with them, in many cases you’d be more likely to to hear the nickname rather than the word police itself. Growing up in England I can recall others referring to them as The Fuzz, The Old Bill, Bobbies, The Force, Coppers and Bluebottles. As I aged I learned of many more slang words for the police many of them not fit for this blog, however one word I’d never seen associate with the police until now was ‘Green’.

As part of the British governments goal to retrofit public establishments in more environmentally friendly ways, a large cross-section of public buildings will be receiving green makeovers in the years to come and two police stations in the County of Cheshire have been selected as the first in the region to become green. Police headquarters in both Nantwich and Middlewich were each chosen to receive an eco-friendly makeover including the latest in green technologies. In time it is expected that each county’s Constabulary will be tasked with lowering the carbon footprint of the police force in Britain with specific goals assigned to reducing energy costs and thus the resultant reduction in carbon emissions. The initial project has been co-funded by the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. The NWIEP is working closely with local councils, police authorities, fire and rescue services and the health authorities to achieve the aims set out in their strategy which is designed to improve the infrastructure and results of local governing bodies and administration. Regionally the northwest part of the the UK has one of the worst levels of air pollution in the country, something the organisation looks set to tackle, per their website:

Currently the North West is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide outside of the South East, and the range of targets in per capita carbon dioxide emissions that have been committed to by 16 North West Local Area Agreements present the region with a significant challenge. The North West also continues to be the worst performing region on local environmental quality and performs below the national average for the amount of waste it sends to landfill, or reuses, recycles and composts.

Both police stations will be retrofitted to include solar technology for the provision of electricity and hot water. In addition upgrades to the existing electrical systems and building insulation will in turn lead to more energy-efficient buildings. The Constabulary is also expected to benefit financially through new renewable heat incentives that the Government have rolled out. While other police stations in the country have made some changes such as solar, these two locations marked the first example of an entire station benefiting from numerous upgrades implemented simultaneously. The project researched and evaluated 40 different police facilities in the area before selecting Nantwich and Middlewich. The conversions are expected to take about two months to complete with both locations remaining fully functional during the work that needs to be carried out.