£35,000 to make Renfrewshire’s streets safer this Christmas

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The Festive Safety Campaign will see a series of initiatives launched at the start of December including:

• Extra police and warden patrols
• More taxi marshals in town centres
• Cocaine torches and swabs being used in pubs and clubs
• Metal detectors
• Youth diversionary activities
• Hit the Beat Christmas events
• Extending the radio link system between pubs and restaurants

The campaign is being run by the Safer and Stronger Renfrewshire Partnership who welcomed the funding announcement this week.

Councillor Brian Lawson, Renfrewshire Council's Community Safety spokesman, said: "We are very happy to welcome this funding from Safer Streets which will be added to our Festive Safety Campaign. This will see a wide-range of events and initiatives in place over the holiday period to make sure everyone in Renfrewshire has a safer Christmas.

"The campaign will build on the great work carried out by the Safer and Stronger Partnership already this year, including a reduction in youth disorder and vandalism thanks to a very successful youth diversion scheme and the introduction of body-mounted cctv cameras for wardens and police. We are committed to working together to make Renfrewshire a safer place to live, work and visit."

The Safer and Stronger Renfrewshire Partnership is made up of Renfrewshire Council, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Renfrewshire Community Health Partnership, Paisley Partnership Regeneration Company and other local organisations. The Festive Safety Campaign is also being backed by Paisley Vision Board.

Supt McCallum, Sub-Divisional Officer, Renfrewshire said "The Safer Streets programme has been running for a number of years now and the support provided by Renfrewshire Council has allowed for considerable additional policing and crime prevention interventions. I am positive that this year's funding will make a big difference to both local communities and the town centres and build on the strong partnership arrangements that currently exist. We have had an extremely encouraging year in terms of performance and I am determined to continue this throughout the festive period and provide the public with targeted and effective policing services."

Press release: Friday 27 November 2009