More Support For School Crossing Patrols as Safety Cameras are Issued to Staff

All Bedford Borough Council school crossing patrols have been given cameras to protect their safety and that of the children they help cross the road.

Mayor Dave Hodgson was interviewed by ITV Anglia for a recent report on this new initiative, which is available to view on its website here: www.itv.com/news/anglia/story/2014-05-13/mobile-cameras-for-bedford-crossing-patrols/

This is the latest show of support for lollipop men and women in Bedford Borough, which have been protected locally while other councils have cut crossing patrols for schoolchildren. Bedfor dBorough Council was praised last year by the Living Streets charity for supporting its campaign for crossing patrol staff to be protected in the face of the unprecedented financial pressures for local authorities.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of incidents where drivers or others have shouted abuse at school crossing patrol officers. In addition, a small minority of drivers are continuing to ignore school crossing patrols and speeding past, putting the lives of children and the patrol officers at risk. On average, there is at least one of these incidents every month. The Council has therefore taken action to protect children and their school crossing patrol staff.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said: "It is appalling that a small minority of drivers ignore the patrols or stop only to shout abuse at school crossing patrol staff who are simply helping local children cross the road safely.'

I've been out with school crossing patrol staff as they do their job, and I know how dedicated they are to keeping children safe as they cross often busy roads at locations across the Borough. They are out in all weathers, stepping out onto busy roads to help chidlren stay safe, and it is only right that the Council does all it can can to provide them with a safe working environment, including these new cameras.'

"We hope that knowledge of the cameras will help act as a deterrent, but if there are incidents of aggressive or dangerous behaviour by drivers, the footage will be passed to the police."

The video recordings are encrypted and will only be initially viewed by nominated council officers to aid initial investigations in to any reported incident. The video needs specialist software to be viewed and will be overwritten after eight hours. Because the footage on the camera needs specialist software to be viewed if they are lost or stolen then no one else will be able to access the videos.