177 attacks on traffic wardens

THERE have been more than 170 physical and verbal attacks on traffic wardens Tayside and Fife in the last five years.

Some councils have resorted to having parking attendants and traffic wardens wear body cameras, such is the rate of assaults on staff.

The statistics, gathered via a freedom of information request, show Dundee has the highest incident rate — with 89 verbal and physical assaults on council parking staff being recorded since January 2013.

A total of 177 verbal and physical acts of violence have been reported in Dundee, Fife, Angus and Perth and Kinross councils against parking staff, which includes wardens on the beat and attendants in multi-storey facilities.

In Angus, control of parking was handed over to the local authority from the police in April of last year. Eleven reports of violence or verbal abuse have been recorded since then.

Perth and Kinross traffic wardens did not fare any better, with 31 verbal or physical attacks.

In Fife, 46 attacks on staff parking attendants categorised as violence, aggression and threat were reported to council bosses.

Angus Council said its staff are trained to deal with incidents of an aggressive nature and that if a problem escalates the matter could be reported to police.

A council spokesman said: “Assaults on our staff are never acceptable. We are committed to preventing violence and aggression and encourage our staff to record and report such behaviour.

“Where incidents do happen, we use all appropriate measures to take action in relation to those responsible and ensure that the staff member affected receives appropriate support.”

In Dundee, the council said it treats each incident of threat with the utmost urgency, as well as offering affected employees support.

A council spokesman said: “If an incident occurs, staff should advise their line manager and are encouraged to fill in a reporting form.”

A Fife Council spokesman said: “Any verbal threat, abusive or violent behaviour is recorded on the council First Contact system.

“A manager will review the incident, speak to the employee and take any appropriate measures.

“If the incident is of a serious nature, then the matter will be reported to the police if it hasn’t already been.”

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesman said: “The safety and wellbeing of our staff is a matter that we take very seriously and the council has a range of supports and procedures in place to ensure it’s maintained.”