Medway Police Station is the main Kent Police facility for the Medway towns, located on Purser Way in Gillingham, Kent. It serves all Medway divisions and replaced several older local stations in Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester and Rainham.
The site was procured under a 30âÂÂyear Private Finance Initiative (PFI) concession to be the main Kent Police facility for the Medway towns, located on Purser Way in Gillingham, Kent. The station replaces four former stations:
Infrastructure investor HICL reports that the project reached financial close in July 2004 and had a capital expenditure of ã23 million, with construction by Norwest Holst (Vinci) completed in November 2006. The new station was formally opened in March 2007.
Medway Police Station sits at the western end of Purser Way, off Pier Road in Gillingham. Nearby bus stops include âÂÂPurser Wayâ (about a 1âÂÂ2 minute walk) and âÂÂGillingham Gateâ (about 4 minutes' walk). These are served by local bus routes such as the 1, 101, 116, 176, 177 and 683 (among others). Gillingham railway station â on the Southeastern and Thameslink lines â is about a 10-minute walk away, providing frequent services to London and the Kent coast.
The station includes extensive custody and support facilities. Its custody suite is reported to have 40 cells â the largest in Kent â along with dedicated interview and medical rooms. All 12 prosecutors and 4 associates of Kent's Medway and North Kent Crown Prosecution Service moved into offices at the station in late 2008 to work closely with Kent Police. The building also provides modern amenities such as holding cells and administrative offices, and has space for victim support; for example a special suite for vulnerable victims (with photo-ID and interview facilities) was part of the station's design.
In November 2023, Medway's police-led Community Safety Unit (funded by the Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit) installed an anonymous knife-surrender bin outside the station. The week-long "Save a Life" campaign allowed residents to discard knives and bladed weapons anonymously, aiming to reduce violence.
In November 2023, Edward Midgley attempted to set fire to Medway police station by pouring a flammable liquid on the reception desk and igniting a rag, which failed to catch fire. He also assaulted a police officer while leaving the building. In April 2024, Midgley pleaded guilty to arson and assaulting an emergency worker and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.