BRI police station helps cut violent incidents at A&E (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

BRI police station helps cut violent incidents at A&E

8:40am Tuesday 30th August 2011 in Bradford By Claire Lomax

The opening of a mini-police station in Bradford Royal Infirmary’s busy A&E department is helping to deter violent and abusive behaviour against staff.

In 2008 police attended Bradford Royal Infirmary 717 times. However, following the opening of the police station in December of that year, the number of police call-outs dropped.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that in 2009 police were called out to BRI 633 times and in 2010 this further reduced to 595 call outs.

Karon Snape, the Foundation Trust’s security management specialist said the year-on-year reduction was because tackling violence and aggression against staff remained a corporate priority for the trust.

“A&E is a hotspot and having police on site is nipping violence and aggression in the bud. It has a deterrent effect and it is working,” she said.

Each year the trust assesses the top ten problem areas for violence and aggression and crime and then makes recommendations on how to reduce criminal behaviour, such as the introduction of more CCTV, which provides police and the CPS with the evidence needed to prosecute the perpetrators.

“We have a zero tolerance approach to violence and aggression against staff and where there is evidence we will pursue a prosecution through the courts,” added Karon.

“We have in-house security so we can deal with a significant amount of crime but where we need to prosecute, that is when we make the call to the police.”