Freelance

Author Bio ▼

Jamie Hailstone is a freelance journalist and author, who has also contributed to numerous national business titles including Utility Week, the Municipal Journal, Environment Journal and consumer titles such as Classic Rock.
May 18, 2018

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Workplace Violence

Parking wardens to wear body cameras to boost safety

Parking wardens in East Riding of Yorkshire are to wear body cameras for the first time in a bid to increase their safety.

All 24 civil enforcement officers and three supervisors will be equipped with the body cameras from this week.

According to the local authority, parking enforcement officers have reported more than 120 incidents of aggressive behaviour towards them since January last year.

In one incident, an officer was injured after being shot by a ball-bearing gun and in another, a warden was injured after being pushed into a fence.

In a statement, East Riding of Yorkshire Council said its wardens have also been shouted at, sworn at and intimidated by having cars driven at them and being followed by vehicles and followed by both vehicles and people.

And the council added the body cameras will only be activated for recording by the officer themselves when situations become confrontational.

The local authority said the new cameras will cost a total of £16,000, which will be paid for through parking charges and penalty notices.

The council’s portfolio holder for operational services, Cllr John Barrett, said: “We understand that people can sometimes get angry or frustrated at receiving a penalty charge notice, but that is not excuse for using abusive or violent behaviour towards our officers, who are just doing their job.

“We are equipping the officers with these new body cameras as a deterrent to stop these situations happening in the first place, and to make our staff feel safer as they go about their duties, as they often work alone.”

The council’s head of streetscene services, Paul Tripp, added: “Many authorities across the country are now using body cameras and they have proved extremely effective in reducing the number of incidents involving abusive and aggressive behaviour.

“But, to be clear, this only involves a small minority of motorists, the vast majority of drivers are very respectful to our officers.”

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