Councillors are set to be told that continued progress is being made in five key areas of community safety and justice.
According to a new report partnership working is helping to deliver reductions in crime levels of domestic abuse and re-offending, while road and community safety have been boosted.
Kevin Cordell convener of Dundee City Council’s community safety and public protection committee said: “The key to improved and enhanced community safety and justice is the partnerships that we have established with a number of different agencies that all go towards helping to create a city that is healthy, safe and confident and which has an excellent quality of life.
“Despite the challenges that Covid-19 has brought with it working closely with Police Scotland, the criminal justice system, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and other partners is helping to deliver the progress this report highlights, which while it is great to see, requires continued focus and hard work to keep heading in a positive direction.”
Covering the period 2020/2021 the report showcases established and newly developed initiatives successfully aimed at reducing most types of crime. These include work on Hate Crime, preventing theft from houses, violence prevention and scam awareness.
In response to domestic abuse across the city, particularly during the two periods of lockdown, there was a particular focus on keeping awareness levels high, targeting perpetrators and providing helpful support to victims, again with a range of initiatives being maintained or developed.
Partners continue to develop interventions across the criminal justice system in order to ensure that timely, proportionate and cost-effective responses are delivered which increase community safety and improve outcomes for adults who offend. These have included programmes to address sexual offending and unpaid work initiatives.
In summer 2020, Operation Close pass was launched in response to more people using active travel as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. The move has been welcomed by cyclists and cycling lobby groups..
Local and national road safety campaigns were delivered across the city, including the summer and festive drink drive awareness, seatbelt/speed and mobile phone days of action.
The report, which will be considered by the community safety and public protection committee on Monday (November 22), also highlights a number of on-going activities in community safety including work on fire prevention and home safety, and the work of community wardens and the Anti-Social Behaviour Team.
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
