Councillors agreed to reinstate Police CAT teams

Tuesday August 29th 2017

Police Scotland Patrol Car

Councillors have agreed to reinstate funding for two local Police Scotland Community Action Teams.

The £500,000 annual funding for the two teams, each with one sergeant and six police constables was withdrawn in previous budget savings.

However, at the full council meeting on Tuesday, the majority of councillors voted in favour of reinstating the funding agreement with Police Scotland.

The cabinet member for community safety, Cllr Stephen Curran said: “We realise that money is extremely tight. However, that said, we feel you can’t put a price on the safety of our local residents.

“When the Community Action Teams (CAT) were being phased out, there was a significant rise in highly visible anti-social behaviour and damage to property across many of our towns, placing massive pressures on police resources.

“We feel, therefore, that spending the money will be hugely beneficial to our communities by allowing dedicated resources to be spent on tackling housebreaking, anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse and road safety.”

The cost to the council in the current financial year to April 2018 will be circa £46,000 a month, rising to £557,000 annually plus a 1% annual pay increment.

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