| The move was confirmed by the city council this morning and is being made possible because of a successful bid by the local authority to the Scottish Executive for extra cash specifically to help deal with the problem.
Although a considerable amount of preparatory work still has to be done before the first community wardens take to the streets, five areas have already been identified as the first group to benefit from the measure — Whitfield, Hilltown/Bowbridge, Douglas, Camperdown/Lochee West and Stobswell.
The introduction of the wardens will be done in close consultation with Tayside Police in Dundee, but city council administration Jill Shimi said today they would not be taking over the role of the police in the areas where they will be operating.
“In Dundee the primary emphasis of our wardens will be on community safety, on helping reduce crime and the fear of crime. They will work closely with the police but will not be a substitute for the police,” she said.
A number of local authorities are looking at, or are already introducing community wardens in their respective areas, with responsibility for helping to tackle different aspects of anti-social behaviour.
Implementing such a measure in Dundee was first mooted about a year ago, but is now being made possible in the wake of the awarding of an extra £2.1 million of cash allocated by the Scottish Executive.
The local authority said today the new spending will help build on a range of successful initiatives that have already been introduced in the city, such as the Dundee Families Project, Dundee Community Mediation and the city-wide specialist Anti-Social Behaviour Team, which was set up two years ago.
Mrs Shimi said today that ridding Dundee of “the scourge of anti-social behaviour,” which brought misery to those who suffer from it, was a priority.
Meanwhile, Dundee West MSP Kate Maclean said the recently published ASB bill, which she supported in the Scottish Parliament shows that the Executive agrees with local people that ‘enough is enough.’
“It is time that we shook up the system so that it works in favour of the victims of this sort of behaviour,” she said.
The Bill contained measures like making vandals clean up their own mess through community reparation orders and banning the sale of spray paint to under-18’s. Parenting orders will hold the tiny minority of irresponsible parents to account for their children’s behaviour.
New powers for the council to target the graffiti and fly tipping and noise nuisance that often pave the way for more serious problems were also included in the Bill. |
