Posted 13/04/2010

New Bluetooth devices, managed by the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) to beam top Community Safety tips to residents, are being launched at Liquid and Envy nightclub this week (Thursday 1 to Saturday 3 April).

The devices will be activated at various locations over the coming months to highlight key Community Safety campaigns via brief text and picture messages. This will enable people with Bluetooth to access free crime-related personal safety tips via their mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants).

This weekends message will give a gentle warning to people out and about in the town centre after dark to respect others as they head home, reminding them that getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly will add an extra £80.00 to their night out - in the shape of a penalty fine.

The devices can send out messages within a maximum 100m radius, and are mobile - they can be carried by a police officer or police car, or sited at a suitable venue, like Liquid and Envy. Mobile phone and PDA users will be able to choose to accept or decline messages. If they decline, the device will remember this and the CSP wont contact them again via Bluetooth.

Cheri Wright, Anti-social Behaviour Manager for the CSP, said:

Bluetooth is a great, cost-effective way to reach lots of people with relevant bite-size Community Safety messages. People need to be reassured it wont be overused - it will be used selectively to support key awareness campaigns. We wont be sending the same message to the same mobile phone within a set time frame, except when necessary, and people can opt to decline messages, although wed urge them to pick up the free advice.

Detective Sergeant Jim Taylor from the police in Swindon said:

We will be working with our partners to use Bluetooth for various Community Safety purposes - warning about the consequences of excess alcohol consumption and anti-social behaviour, or appealing for witnesses in a particular area, for example. The bulletins will be free, so Id urge people to pick them up if they have Bluetooth - the advice could help prevent them from becoming a victim of crime, or make them think again about the repercussions of behaving in a risky way.