Waste tip staff to get bodycams to tackle abuse
WORKERS at Ashbourne’s recycling centre are to be equipped with bodycams to combat threatening and abusive behaviour.
The Mayfield Road tip is one of nine council-run household waste and recycling centres in Derbyshire that have seen an average of 313 incidents – ranging from verbal to physical abuse – each year for the past two years.
That’s about 26 incidents at the nine sites every month.
Derbyshire County Council has been working closely with its contractor for waste disposal, Resource Recovery Solutions Ltd (RRS), to tackle the issue.
It is now planning to introduce bodycams after a trial showed incidents of threating and abusive behaviour dropped by 66%.
A decision on the proposal will be made at a meeting, today (Wednesday) led by Councillor Simon Spencer, the cabinet member for highways.
A report for the meeting states: “RRS asked the County Council for support in exploring and developing options to reduce the number of incidents occurring.
“A number of measures are already in place, such as signs which request residents to treat employees with the same respect and courtesy that they receive from staff. They have been in place at all sites for a number of years.
“Staff also receive annual customer care training. However, unfortunately, incidents are still occurring and the frequency remains a cause for concern.”
A trial for the proposal was carried out in March at the Taylor Lane tip in Loscoe.
During the trial, incidents of threatening and abusive behaviour dropped by 66 per cent. The site managers and duty managers on the site stated that they “initially felt apprehensive using the cameras, however they quickly got used to wearing and using the equipment and felt comfortable.
“All site employees felt more confident when they were approaching people to help, and to enforce the council’s policies”.
Workers in the council’s parking enforcement team have been supportive of the plan and are experiencing similar issues.
If the plan is approved, the county council’s sub-contractor HW Martin Waste Ltd will buy two cameras, which would be rotated at county tips and worn by either the manager or duty manager of each site - after training.
Footage is only recorded during a potential incident and all data would be deleted after 30 days unless it is required as evidence.