News - NSL

NSL Services Group, The City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian and Borders Police today (11th June) signed up to a pioneering co-operation agreement aimed at reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

The new scheme, called Partnership Plus, was officially launched when representatives from the three organisations signed a new agreement to work more closely together.

The agreement details how parking attendants and environmental wardens will assist police with their operations, including:

* receiving training by police to make them more skilled at reporting street crime swiftly and effectively.
* receiving briefings on particular incidents where police are looking for more information.
* assisting police with special operations, such as clampdowns on Blue Badge fraud, or vulnerable vehicle schemes, where motorists are reminded not to leave valuables on display when they leave their cars.

The agreement also means police commit to increased support for parking attendants and environmental wardens, to help ensure they feel they can do their jobs on street safely. This means police will:

* commit to ensuring that all assaults or abuse of parking attendants or environmental wardens are investigated promptly and where appropriate the offenders prosecuted.
* assist with conflict resolution training to ensure parking attendants and environmental wardens are increasingly well equipped to deal with difficult situations on street.

Tim Cowen of NSL said: “We already have terrific support from the police across the whole force area - but this agreement specifies several useful ways we can help each other.

“It will help us to further reduce the level of assaults and abuse our colleagues receive while carrying out their duties - and we hope that we will be able to give something back to the police by providing more formal support in terms of observing and recording street crime and disorder.”

The deal is the first of its kind in Scotland, although it was preceded by one off arrangements where NSL helped the police with operations during major events such as the Edinburgh Festival.

Edinburgh parking attendants have also been trained recently in Emergency Life Support, the first time in the UK that parking enforcement officers have been involved in such a scheme.

City Transport Convener, Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, said: “Our parking attendants' main objective is to maintain safe, steady traffic flow through Edinburgh's streets but, through working more closely with the ambulance service and now with the police, they can become an even greater asset to our city.

“We hope the police in Edinburgh will come to see both our parking attendants and environmental wardens as an extra set of eyes and ears who are willing and able to offer a helping hand.”

A spokesperson from Lothian and Borders police added:

"We have been working informally with NSL Services over the past year, particularly during initiatives at the peak periods such as the Festival and the Festive season, where NSL staff have participated as a valuable additional resource.

"Whilst NSL partnership working has thus far been confined primarily to the City Centre, the formal agreement will extend the area of operations throughout the City of Edinburgh. The parking attendants and environmental wardens have the potential to be a hugely valuable resource out and about on the ground, reporting back to the Police and City of Edinburgh Council staff on crime and other matters of public concern."