Code5® mobile phone technology from SitexOrbis saves car parking attendant threatened by man carrying seven knives

A female civil enforcement officer was subjected to a tirade of abuse in April this year while issuing a parking notice to a driver who had parked illegally in a disabled bay near Bristol city centre. The man was later arrested and found to be in possession of several knives.

The officer, who preferred not to be named, has worked for Bristol City Council's parking enforcement team for two years. After spotting the illegally parked vehicle and while writing out the notice, she was aggressively confronted by the vehicle owner who got into his car and attempted to drive away nearly injuring her in the process.

Although taken aback, she remained calm and attempted to complete the notice but faced a 20-minute tirade of abuse, offensive language and threatening gestures that resulted in the police being called and the man being arrested.

What her attacker didn't appreciate was the level of training from the council and technological support from the code5® service supplied by lone worker specialists SitexOrbis the parking attendant had received. code5® has been used by Bristol Council and many other authorities for a number of years and is a proven solution for lone workers who face increased risks during their normal working day.

On making the decision to follow through with the notice, despite the obvious threat to her own safety, she pressed the dedicated panic button on her ruggedised Sonim mobile phone. Within seconds all audio was recorded and she was discreetly connected to a SitexOrbis response team of two operators. They remained on the line and began to initiate the pre-agreed emergency response procedure set by Bristol City Council.

Once the police arrived, they took control of the situation and arrested the man after discovering him in possession of the knives.

The quality of the audio captured between the Sonim device and the digital recorders hosted at SitexOrbis's Alarm Receiving Centre were commended by the CEO and the police who are therefore confident of upgrading the severity of the offence and securing a conviction. The highly trained SitexOrbis operators also managed to ensure accurate notes and key details were added to the report that will form part of the evidence.

In this instance the code5® lone worker protection solution combined with the robust Sonim equipment ensured not only a rapid emergency response, but also the strong likelihood that this man will be convicted and possibly receive a custodial sentence, hopefully stopping him from posing a further threat to other civil workers and the public in general.

Bristol City Council is one of the first councils to assist SitexOrbis in extensive trials of the Sonim product that is also being appraised by other parking enforcement organisations.