Perth street pastors launched
Last updated | 06/05/2008
The official launch of the Perth Street Pastors initiative will take place on Thursday 6 March 2008 at Perth's North Church in Murray Street.
The initiative is being supported by Perth City Centre Management, the Perth & Kinross Community Safety Partnership and Tayside Police. The volunteer pastors involved will carry out a focused patrol within Perth City Centre on Saturday nights between 10pm and 3am, starting on Saturday 8 March 2008. They will be dressed in distinctive blue jackets and baseball caps, which were funded by Perth Common Good Fund.
The pastors will engage with people on Perth's streets to provide a supportive and friendly ear, particularly for vulnerable individuals. All have undertaken a 12-week training course which covered health and safety, anger management, first aid and drug awareness.
Councillor Willie Robertson, Chair of the Community Safety Partnership said: "Similar schemes in other towns and cities have contributed to a decrease in crime and anti-social behaviour, and we hope this trend will also be reflected in Perth. Close links have been built by the pastors with Tayside Police and Perth City Centre Management and these will continue."
Chief Superintendent Matt Hamilton from Tayside Police commented: “Tayside Police have been working closely with Perth street pastors for some time now during their training and preparation for introduction. It is really exciting to see the idea come to fruition. The experience of street pastors in other cities has been entirely positive. They are there to help and should enhance our night time economy considerably.”
Mike Archibald, Street Pastor coordinator states “Our interest is in making the lives of those who we meet more secure and worthwhile and we obviously hope the incidence of street crime will be reduced by the 84% that averages all the other Street Pastor outlets in England.“
