Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Gary Godden is bringing together Nottinghamshire Police and Nottingham Express Transit for a collaborative project with aims to make public transport even safer. Operation Safenet will see closer collaboration and information sharing between police and NET to prevent crime, analyse trends and come up with solutions that keep passengers safe on the network.
The pilot will initially be for 12 months, but if successful it could be extended or rolled out to other public transport operators across Nottinghamshire.
Passengers are set to benefit from enhanced support, monitoring and evidence gathering from dozens of existing help points at tram stops and CCTV cameras across the network.
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.”
Operation Safenet is one of the core principles of a new Police and Crime Plan – A Safer Nottingham for All – and aims to put communities and victims first and to strengthen partnership working.
Sarah Turner, NET Managing Director, 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.”
As well as a lot of behind the scenes work from the Police, there will also be more presence from uniformed officers who are encouraged to travel on public transport as part of their routine neighbourhood police patrols.