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The launch of the Safer Nights Out Campaign at Tralee Garda Station on Monday.
MINISTER for Justice Helen McEntee joined gardaí, local politicians, taxi drivers and members of Tralee Chamber Alliance on Monday to launch the Safer Nights Out Campaign at Tralee Garda Station.
Building further on Tralee Chamber’s on-going work with An Garda Siochana to improve personal safety on nights out they launched the campaign which includes ‘Operation Safe Home’ which is the distribution of high -vis jackets by Gardai to vintners for customers who walk home at night.
‘Ask for Angela’ was re-launched with the vintners playing a key part in keeping people safe while socialising.
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This is a code word campaign for people who feel unsafe on a night out. The initiative encourages people who find themselves in a dodgy or suspicious situation to ‘Ask for Angela’ at the bar. The phrase alerts bar staff that something is amiss and they will safely diffuse the situation.
In collaboration with the Tralee Taxi Association, Tralee Chamber is also introducing the new Taxi Text initiative.
Taxi drivers will use the existing ‘See Something, Say Something’ protocol to alert Gardai of
• Suspicious behaviour
• Vulnerable persons walking home alone
• Anti-social behaviour
• Drug dealing
• Public disorder
When a taxi driver witnesses any of the above or overhears/sees something suspicious from occupants of their taxi, when the vehicle is stationary, they will text ‘Tralee’ followed by the details of the report including location to 50555. The service is anonymous.
The Ask for Angela campaign will also be extended to taxis. Where a person gets into a taxi and are uncomfortable in the company that they are in, they can discreetly ask ‘Did you pick up Angela tonight’ alerting the driver who can do the following:
1. Ensure that the other person is dropped off at their destination first
2. Contact Gardai
3. Drive to the nearest Garda Station
The Kerry Rape Crisis Centre is fully supportive of this initiative.
There are currently 104 members of Tralee Taxi Association and all supportive of both the ‘Taxi Text’ and the ‘Ask for Angela Campaign’ initiatives.
