POLICE officers and environmental wardens are to patrol together for the first time in a bid to crack down on crime, antisocial behaviour and littering.
The new partnership, believed to be the first of its kind in Scotland, will target known "hotspots" across the city.
Instead of pairs of police officers or wardens patrolling separately, the teams will be made up of one police officer and one wa
rden.
If somebody is spotted dropping litter, or fails to clean up after their dog has fouled a public area, wardens will be able to issue a fixed fine – with the police officer acting as a witness.
As well as leading to a likely increase in fines, it is hoped this will encourage more police officers to issue fixed penalties. They are currently thought to act only rarely on littering or dog fouling.
At the same time, wardens will also get an insight into tackling antisocial behaviour, acting as witnesses and reporting back to the council on safety issues such as providing better street lighting.
Inspector Gavin Phillip, police liaison officer with the city council, said: "This not only increases visibility, but provides reassurance to members of the community that their concerns are being addressed through combining the services each can offer in order to enhance the ability to deal with the issue in the most appropriate manner."
The partnership is to be trialled for six months, with the city's 32 environmental wardens and some of the 84 council-funded police officers, who work for the new Neighbourhood Action Units.
These bodies have been set up to replace the former safer communities units and youth action teams, with a stronger emphasis on night time patrols.
If successful, it is hoped the idea would spread to cover other parts of the police force, and involve different council workers, such as community safety concierges.
Environmental wardens have been selected for phase one because they are trained in conflict management, and wear protective clothing to help them deal with potentially aggressive situations.
As they are not sworn-in police officers, council staff will not be involved in regular police work, but will be regarded as witnesses to any incidents.
Councillor Norman Work, vice convener of the council's health, social care and housing committee, said: "This is a very exciting and pioneering step as it builds on the very successful joint working between ourselves and Lothian and Borders Police.
"Joint patrols will be a highly-visible indication of how we are increasingly working in partnership together to tackle common problems. Following on from the recent high-profile launch of the new Neighbourhood Action Units, joint patrolling is the next logical step."
The full article contains 455 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
