Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Gary Godden, Nottinghamshire Police and Nottingham Express Transit (NET) have announced a joint partnership to bring a new, 12-month pilot safety scheme to public transport across Nottinghamshire.
Operation Safenet will see the three parties come together to collaborate and share information in order to prevent crime, analyse trends and develop new solutions to ensure the safety of passengers on and around NET’s 20-mile tram network.
Passengers are set to receive enhanced support, monitoring and evidence gathering from a large number of existing ‘help points’ at tram stops and CCTV cameras situated across the tram system.
PCC Godden said:Nottingham is a great city and Operation Safenet is about making it even safer by bringing partners together to work more closely behind the scenes on things like evidence gathering, information sharing and crime prevention.
It includes employing a researcher to analyse crime and antisocial behaviour patterns. This then allows existing front-line resources, such as officers from Neighbourhood Policing Teams, to take targeted and data-driven action to solve local problems and nip any issues in the bud.
Not only will this benefit the people of Nottinghamshire, it is also going to support tram staff to stay safe as they carry out their jobs.
We know that public transport is vital to the way people live their lives, particularly with the cost of living making personal travel more expensive. I want people to be safe in the knowledge that when they come to Nottingham for a night out, to work, or to visit, they will be safe on our public transport network.
The scheme is expected to work alongside current schemes deployed throughout both the city and county to create more safe spaces and ensure those in need of sanctuary have access to one when needed.
Sarah Turner, Managing Director of NET, said:The safety of all our passengers, staff and the people of Nottingham has always been our priority, and is a crucial part of the NET ethos, woven into everything that we do.
For a number of years now, we’ve introduced a range of measures to help keep all our tram users and members of the public safe. These include well-lit stations and platforms, HD CCTV cameras on all trams, emergency help buttons at all stops and on all trams, and the ability to contact a member of the team discreetly through WhatsApp on 0115 824 6060.
The introduction of this new police resource is a welcome extension of that, and cements our commitment to ensuring everybody feels safe using our trams, and when travelling around the city.
Over the years, we’ve worked really closely with Nottinghamshire Police to devise ways to reduce antisocial behaviour and violence across the network, and this new initiative is a really positive partnership that we look forward to developing further.
Assistant Chief Constable Sukesh Verma, of Nottinghamshire Police, has sated that whilst a majority of work on Operation Safenet will happen behind the scenes, passengers can still expect to see a uniformed presence from police offers encouraged to travel on public transport as part of their routine policing patrols.
