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On The Beat: Keeping our city centre safe

Inspector George Nixon, City Centre and Rosemount Community Policing Team.
Inspector George Nixon, City Centre and Rosemount Community Policing Team.

With the onset of spring, there is some renewed optimism for lighter nights, (hopefully) better weather and the lifting of the majority of Covid restrictions after two challenging years.

Aberdeen city centre is returning to normal, with increased numbers working, shopping and socialising. Hopefully, we continue to see this trend continue as we head into the summer and beyond.

City centres can be challenging environments to police because the majority of people spending time here do not live within the area.

For some, it is a place of employment, others come to shop, visit hospitality venues or meet friends. Meanwhile, tourists and business people use it as a base whilst visiting the area.

Unfortunately, such a diverse environment comes with the downside that it attracts criminals and those who behave in an antisocial manner.

Our policing team are focused on working with a range of individuals, businesses, groups and partner agencies to ensure that the city centre continues to be a safe place to live, work and visit.

Team also assist people found vulnerable or distressed

As the city centre reopened, we took a proactive approach to meet any challenges head-on and established the Safer City Unit as part of our overall policing plan.

This is a team of experienced officers who patrol solely on foot, ensuring the area maintains the “bobbies on the beat” appeal.

The Safer City Unit has excellent relationships with retailers and the licenced trade, built through years of policing experience in the area, and uses this to identify areas of concern and to seek sustainable solutions to any problems.

By being the eyes and ears on the ground, the Safer City Unit has gained an encyclopaedic knowledge of those who are regularly within the city centre and this is invaluable when policing a relatively small area with a high concentration of people within.

The unit complements this by working closely with our CCTV operators to identify issues in real-time, ensuring we can get our staff into the areas they are needed in and hopefully preventing escalation.

‘We all have a stake in the success and safety of our city centre’

Of course, it is not all about tackling crime, as the city centre also attracts a large number of vulnerable individuals.

The team frequently encounter people who find themselves vulnerable or distressed and they may have a range of complex mental health and social care issues.

We work with a range of partner agencies to signpost and offer support to such persons, while also working with others to explore opportunities to reduce the chances of persons coming to harm in the city centre, for example by reviewing the physical environment.

We are proud to be part of a wider team which maintains Aberdeen’s Purple Flag status as a safe and thriving destination and the Safer City Unit is one element of our approach to this.

If you see the team out and about, feel free to stop them and have a chat. We all have a stake in the success and safety of our city centre and we would be delighted to speak with you.