A move to relocate four criminal investigations police staff from Mosgiel to Dunedin had a mixed reception at the Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board meeting yesterday.
Board member Martin Dillon said he did not understand the reasoning behind the move.
''They are fully employed here so why do they have to move into town?''
Otago Coastal Area Commander Jason Guthrie told the meeting the move was to ''centralise'' the Criminal Investigations Unit in Dunedin and ''prioritise high-risk cases in the region, including child protection and sexual assault investigations.
He stressed that police had ''great confidence'' the service level in Mosgiel would not suffer and police would be better equipped to deal with investigations with a team in Dunedin.
''The Mosgiel unit is an anomaly, a hangover from previous operations.''
He said other areas of policing in Mosgiel would remain the same.
''The visibility of police will be high on the radar, with nine response staff remaining.''
Community board chairman Bill Feather supported the move after saying there had been some confusion in the Mosgiel community about which police staff would be leaving.
