Council And Police To Target Antisocial Behaviour

The first company in the UK dedicated to tackling antisocial behaviour will employ a dozen CCTV vans and innovative audio-visual technology in its battle against low-level crime.

Jointly owned by Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Police, Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GC&SS) will have around 500 staff, including dozens of serving police officers and community wardens.

The £25m initiative represents the first time the police and a local authority have come together in this way. It is hoped that a formal partnership can offer a commitment and resources to tackle low-level crime which both agencies working separately could not.

While acknowledging neither had got the fight against antisocial behaviour completely correct in the past, both the police and the city council insist the scheme is for the long-haul and not a pilot initiative. Teams, which will include graffiti and litter removal squads, will works across five city zones.

Among the fleet of some 80 vehicles are 12 converted people carriers with CCTV cameras on the roofs, to be deployed on evidence-gathering missions across Glasgow every day.

Although staffed mainly by two patrol officers, Strathclyde Police officers will also occasionally accompany the teams on patrol, with their usual powers of arrest.

Three mobile command and control centres can also be used at major events or disturbances, while the cameras will be capable of sending real-time images to handheld devices used by the police.

By the end of April it is also expected that many of the wardens will have powers to issue antisocial behaviour orders, as well as fixed penalties for littering and graffiti.

The firm has mobile five-a-side football pitches which can be set up in troubled areas, and also runs a multimedia bus installed with games consoles and computers.

Jim Coleman, a councillor and GC&SS chairman, said: “The people of Glasgow want to live in a safer, cleaner city. I am not afraid to admit that in the past we have not always succeeded in tackling anti-social behaviour.

“Just as importantly, when we have tackled it, we have not been able to reassure people that their part of the city was getting better. The company’s assets, including its staff, will not be distracted from this task by competing priorities and I am confident that we are going to see a real difference in the coming months and years.”

Sir Willie Rae, chief constable of Strathclyde Police, added: “While we do not underestimate the challenges ahead, the formation of GCSS is a positive step towards delivering on our combined commitment to creating a safer city.”

Meanwhile, community warden schemes were yesterday praised for their role in tackling antisocial behaviour by an independent study. The 30-month evaluation looked at the impact and implementation of the patrol schemes across Scotland. Researchers from GEN Consulting found there was overall statistical and anecdotal evidence that wardens made a positive difference.