THE convener of a new public protection committee says he wants to build a stronger relationship with the emergency services in a bid to keep folk safe.
Councillor Alan Ross told the Tele he is “excited” to get to grips with how the city can work together with colleagues in the Community Safety and Public Protection Committee to continue bringing down crime and fires in Dundee.
It comes as it was revealed Tayside Division’s Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith will shortly retire as local commander for the area.
And the committee’s first meeting last week was at a time when the Tele reported a series of investigations into true crime and fire levels since Tayside Police and Tayside Fire and Rescue Service merged into separate national bodies.
Mr Ross said: “It will mean the emergency services will get a much better opportunity to speak to local councillors now and we can question them and ask them about their reports.
“In one meeting we will have the police and in the next we will have the fire service, rather than them being in the same one like before.
“Audit Scotland said we needed to do something a bit more robust and so that how the committee came about.
“We want to build a strong relationship with the police, who I think have had a few difficulties since the formation of Police Scotland, and we want to reassure the public.
“I’m not sure the relationship between us and the police has deteriorated, but it’s not the same as before.
“The two local police officers used to come to my local surgery and community groups and that tends not to happen as much now.
“But having said that, other councillors said that hadn’t changed much.
“In speaking to Eddie Smith, he said wants to go back to that as much as possible and unfortunately he is retiring soon, but he says the new commander, Paul Anderson, would want to carry it on.”
And while fires continue to claim the lives of people in Dundee, Mr Ross said he was a “big fan” of everything the service has done to keep the number of casualties down and the committee wanted to keep the progress going.
He added: “We’ve had a few high profile fires in Dundee this year, but the fire service does an amazing job.
“Their fire prevention strategy has had a massive impact.”