23 Mar Basildon Council staff praised for helping to tackle crime
Basildon Council is celebrating a decade of helping to reduce crime and disorder in the borough as part of the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme.
The scheme allows Chief Constables to grant staff or organisations with powers to tackle issues affecting communities such as graffiti, litter, abandoned cars and anti-social behaviour. Essex Police officers presented accredited staff at Basildon Council with a certificate and plaque this week to mark ten years of service.
Jenny Brouard, Citizens in Policing Manager at Essex Police, said: “All of the officers who are accredited at Basildon Council are extremely dedicated and passionate about the scheme and work really hard with the local community policing teams to share intelligence and information. They are a credit to their organisation.”
Accredited staff have powers to confiscate alcohol and cigarettes from young people, and to issue fixed penalty notices for knowingly raising a false alarm with the fire service, and acting in a way likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. They do not however have the power to detain or arrest.
All accredited persons are protected under legislation to the same level as police staff, meaning it is an offence to obstruct them in the course of their duty. They must satisfy strict criteria and are fully trained and vetted.
