High visibility clothing has long been in use in a variety of contexts. For example, builders often make use of high visibility jackets, as do many cyclists and other individuals.
However, another use for such garments has been identified in the Hertfordshire town of Watford. A scheme in the area, which is located 20 miles north-west of central London, is utilising high visibility clothing, the Watford Observer reports.Referred to as community payback, the initiative sees criminals sentenced to build or improve things, rather than pay fines or spend time in prison. The individuals sport high visibility jackets while they are conducting their duties.
One of those in support of the project is ward councillor for Northwick Ty Harris. During a recent meeting of the Three Rivers District Council, the local official said the scheme had been a success so far and called for similar projects to be rolled out around the district.
Recently, he visited a team of individuals wearing their high visibility attire to see how they were getting on and claimed that the idea is contributing towards the area becoming a nicer place to live.He added: “Not all offenders are hardened criminals, some may be professionals who may have made a wrong decision. There is a huge amount of skills which could be available to serve the community.
“The team are selective when choosing which offenders participate in projects and there should not be any concern from the public when they see community payback at work.”Councillor Harris went on to note that he will be encouraging the district council to find projects for community payback and people in the area can expect to see high visibility jackets on the streets, providing cost saving benefits. He also claimed that seeing the offenders in action will provide the victims of crime with a sense of satisfaction.