Edesix wins contract to protect Environment Agency staff

Body-worn camera specialist Edesix has partnered with East Midlands Environment Agency to help protect its staff.
Edesix MD Richie McBride said the partnership with East Midlands Environment Agency is 'another great example of a new market which can utilise Body Worn Cameras to improve security'. Picture: Greg MacveanEdesix MD Richie McBride said the partnership with East Midlands Environment Agency is 'another great example of a new market which can utilise Body Worn Cameras to improve security'. Picture: Greg Macvean
Edesix MD Richie McBride said the partnership with East Midlands Environment Agency is 'another great example of a new market which can utilise Body Worn Cameras to improve security'. Picture: Greg Macvean

The Edinburgh-based firm will equip the agency’s enforcement officers with Edesix VideoBadges to record footage during site inspections.

The tie-up follows a six-month trial, with the agency finding that the use of body-worn cameras helped to reduce ­incidents of anti-social behaviour, assaults and threats against staff.

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Edesix, which was acquired by US-based security firm Vigilant Solutions in October, has also won major contracts with UK prisons, ScotRail and South Australian Police.

Edesix MD Richie McBride said: “This is another great example of a new market that can ­utilise body worn cameras to improve security and functionality.”

It recently unveiled a deal with Waitrose & Partners that would see the supermarket’s drivers wear Edesix cameras when delivering to customers’ homes while they are out.

Pete Haslock, enforcement team leader for the Environment Agency in the East Midlands, said: “The safety of our staff is paramount. They are well trained in dealing with hostile situations and we take any threat against them very seriously.

“Our preference is to prevent hostility in the first place and wearing the cameras can prevent threatening situations from escalating. We want to get on with our jobs without the threat of violence and the cameras will help to protect staff and bring obstructive individuals to justice.

“Officers will switch on the cameras if and when they enter a hostile situation or where hostility may be anticipated. That could be a site where they have experienced aggressive behaviour in the past or an unknown quantity, such as on a remote river bank.”