New ‘eyes and ears’ of Nottingham show the friendly face of security

CITY CENTRE TEAM DEAL WITH LOW-LEVEL DISRUPTION TO PUBLIC

- By LOUIS CORBETT

FROM helping people get from A to B to responding to serious incidents, the new SIA-licensed city centre security officers aim to be the “eyes and ears” of Nottingham.

Several weeks into the job, the team have been praised for their work in antisocial behaviour hot spots.

Comprising six officers, the team patrols for low-level crime around the city centre on Fridays and Saturdays.

While the new officers don’t have policing powers, their aim is to deal with low-level disruption that police don’t have the time to tackle.

Nottingham City Council was granted £67,500 for the scheme by Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Gary Godden, with funding currently set to run until March next year.

Brian Bussey, the city council's neighbourhood operations manager, said: “We specifically asked for people who are more engaging than your average security guards, as it’s community-focused.