Belfast City Council is to hire two new ‘Safer Neighbourhood Officers’ in response to a viral video of a men appearing to take drugs in the city centre.
The two new officers will be hired at a total cost of £68,175, and the posts were agreed this week at a recent meeting of the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.
The plans follow a video posted to social media by a Belfast businessman appearing to show two men snorting a white substance in public in the Donegall Place area.
The incident is understood to have happened during the afternoon, in full view of shoppers.
The Safer Neighbourhood Officers were first introduced in the city in 2013 to address community safety concerns and anti-social behaviour.
They carry out patrols and enforce laws relating to on-street drinking and environmental crime, and are also trained to remove used needles and administer Naloxone to those suffering an opioid overdose.
A council report states the hirings come in the wake of “several high-profile incidents” in the city centre, and said the video of the incident racked up almost 1 million views.
“The Lord Mayor and Chief Executive of Belfast City Council, alongside directors within City and Neighbourhood Departments, met with representatives of the business community from Belfast City Centre to discuss ongoing issues and concerns linked to ASB (anti-social behaviour), crime and vulnerability issues,” the report states.
It added: “One action discussed was the recruitment of additional Safer Neighbourhood Officers (SNOs) to increase the footprint and profile within the city centre.”
The report states the work of SNOs had been welcomed by police in the run-up to last Christmas and “certainly made the city centre feel and indeed look safer – a sentiment which has been shared by many retail partners”.
