A CLACKMANNANSHIRE police chief has backed moves to decriminalise parking in Clackmannanshire as officers work to balance enforcement with their other duties.
Chief Inspector Garry Smith said parking remained a “challenge” and acknowledged frustrations about enforcement, particularly in Alloa town centre.
Police Scotland has been responsible for enforcement in areas where parking had not been decriminalised since traffic wardens were withdrawn in Scotland in 2014.
However, speaking to members of Clackmannanshire Council’s Audit and Scrutiny Committee, Chief Inspector Smith admitted that parking “remained a challenge” for the force.
“We will respond to threat, risk and harm accordingly and where capacity allows, we will enforce parking,” he said. “Protecting the most vulnerable and at risk is our priority.
“Road safety remains a priority in Clackmannanshire. We will enforce parking where we can. This year we issued 128 parking tickets. I know it is frustrating but we have lots of other demand that we have to manage.
“I am very supportive of decriminalising parking in Clackmannanshire and I know there is work ongoing. If we get reports, we will respond to it but we also have other and more dangerous crimes to investigate.”
Clackmannanshire East councillor Scott Harrison said parking was an issue.
“I came through the town centre on my way here and I could have dished out 20 tickets,” he said. “It is a huge frustration for people. We will get questions about parking, mostly about Alloa.”
Chief Inspector Smith reiterated his frustration.
“It is challenging particularly when there has been a significant amount of money spent on relining car parks nearby – there is no need to park as people are parking,” he added.
“I will speak to all the teams to encourage them to patrol the town centre. We are looking to encourage some of the new recruits to work alongside community officers and get comfortable with issuing tickets as well.
“We will do what we can. We will continue to enforce and try and increase that visibility. This is very much a let’s do it when the demand allows us to do so.
“We will continue to do that but I am very supportive of other work ongoing to potentially decriminalise it which could result in more funding coming into Clackmannanshire as well.”
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