Your Council working in partnership to make our city safer

Safety in the city

How nights out in Hull's city centre are being made safer

Sgt Andy Parsons, one of the officers in charge of policing Hull city centre on weekend evenings

The number of reported violent crimes linked to drinking alcohol in Hull's city centre has fallen by more than 18 per cent since last year.
And more and more people are coming to Hull for a night out from other towns and cities, as far afield as Newcastle and Scarborough.
Part of the success in making Hull safer is down to the work of the ONE HULL Community Safety Partnership, which includes Hull City Council, the police, the NHS and the fire and probation services.

Street marshals

Above and below: street marshals are on constant patrol

One of the key measures introduced by the partnership is the team of street marshals, who patrol the city centre in pairs between 5.30pm and 3am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Visible in their distinctive uniforms, there are currently six marshals, who can help with anything from assisting the police and staff at licensed premises, to alerting CCTV staff if something suspicious is happening, to advising people how to get home.
"We pride ourselves in being easy to approach and will always endeavour to give clear and concise help and advice, whatever your needs may be," says street marshals managing director Danny Hutchinson, a former soldier who served in the Gulf and in Northern Ireland.
"The vast majority of people want to enjoy their night out, visiting pubs and clubs, enjoying a few drinks and perhaps finishing the night with some local cuisine.
"And as front line operatives on constant patrol, we can help protect the public, staff and property."
Each street marshal is licensed through the Security Industry Authority.
They also have extensive experience in customer care, public safety, door supervising and all aspects of professional security.

Police presence

On any Friday and Saturday night there are also more than 40 police officers patrolling the city centre, including, if needed, officers from the mounted police, dog section and roads crime section.
"Our three priorities are reassurance, early intervention and partnership working," says Sgt Andy Parsons, one of the officers in charge of policing the city centre on weekends.
"We aim to meet revellers from the start of the night – and that establishes our presence and helps to ensure members of the public feel safe."
Recent measures taken by the police include:

• giving out more than 40,000 polycarbonate glasses to bars (in conjunction with the ONE HULL Local Strategic Partnership) in order to prevent serious injuries caused by glassings
• encouraging licensed premises to join pub watch schemes, such as the one on George Street, which allows them to share good practice as well as keep in touch with each other during busy periods in order to identify potential trouble makers
• working more closely with the council's CCTV centre, which operates 40 cameras in the city centre alone, and led to more than 2,000 arrests in a 12-month period in 2007/2008

Rapid response

Where violence does happen and injuries do occur, they can be treated by a rapid-response team made up of a police officer and paramedics.
The team is stationed in the city centre, and can attend to 999 call-outs much more quickly than an ambulance can.
"The idea is that the police officer is able to handle difficult situations and public order, while ambulance staff are able to treat people on the scene instead of having to transport them to hospital with minor injuries," says Paul Mudd, assistant director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Services.
"This reduces the risk of violence for ambulance and hospital staff and cuts the number of casualties attending hospital emergency departments."
The idea of combining police and paramedics was first piloted in Hull around two years ago and has since been used as a model of excellence by other towns and cities across Britain.

Tips for a safe night out DO make sure you eat before and during drinking try to alternate alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks keep your wallet, purse and mobile phone with you at all times, and not in a coat or bag hung over a chair, which could be within reach of a pickpocket plan how you are going to get home remember night buses run from the city centre to Hessle, Spring Cottage and Bransholme every hour until 6am DON'T rush drinks – drink at your own pace mix drinks leave drinks unattended – because they could be spiked get into unlicensed taxis walk home alone

info

For more information about any of the above visit www.hullcc.gov.uk or call 300300.