It is intended to deploy City Protection Officers (CPO’S) to provide a highly-visible uniformed presence that contributes to maintaining and improving community safety for businesses, their staff, customers, residents and visitors to the city.
They will provide cover for about 152 hours over seven days a week, 362 days a year. Their working hours will be flexible around operational requirements, but normal duty times will be during the main shop opening hours and early evening to support businesses involved in the daytime and night-time economies.
The CPO’s will be SIA approved, first-aid trained and will have experience of security work in the city and be familiar with the City Safe Radio and the City Safe Disc Website. They will provide a security blanket for the city.
The CPO’s will be supervised and tasked by the Gloucester City Safe Manager and will work closely with the city policing team, city council, local security officers and local businesses. It is intended to make an application to Gloucestershire Constabulary for the CPO’s to be trained and given limited enforcement powers under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme. The City Council intend to delegate powers to the CPO’s to deal with enforcement issues under its jurisdiction.
The CPO’s duties will include:
PATROLLING CITY CENTRE
Patrolling the city centre and surrounding area to provide a highly-visible presence and reassurance.
REPORTS
Report on and when appropriate deal with graffiti, damage, fly-tipping and when levels of cleanliness are below standard.
TARGET HOT SPOTS
Target hotspots from information and intelligence submitted by partners and businesses.
ASSISTING EVENTS
Assisting with city centre events.
PARTNER AGENCIES
Liaising with partner agencies and groups such as the Cavern Club youth centre.
LIAISING WITH POLICE
Liaising with the Police CCTV and assisting them as and when required.
REPORTING INCIDENTS
Reporting incidents and submitting intelligence to the police, and providing witness statements when applicable.
ALTERTING BUSINESS
Informing City Safe members and alerting other businesses if they see excluded individuals or known offenders going into their premises.
ENFORCEMENT POWERS
Use enforcement powers under the Community Safety Accreditation scheme when applicable
CITY SAFE SCHEME
Supporting the City Safe scheme and encouraging increased membership and greater use of the City Safe radio.
DETERRING CRIME
Deterring minor crime and shoplifting.
TACKLING ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Tackling low-level anti-social behaviour involving young people during the early evening in support of businesses.
APPROACHABLE TEAM
Being approachable, friendly and welcoming to the public, and assisting with directions and any other information they may request.
ASSISTING BUSINESS
Assisting businesses and providing advice if they have thefts or other incidents.
INCIDENT REPORTS
Attending minor incident reports as directed by Police CCTV, City Policing team or as requested by businesses.
SUBMITTING REPORTS
Submitting incident and intelligence reports to City Safe.
REGULAR VISITS
Making regular visits to businesses to provide reassurance.
