Video Doorbells Can Protect The Vulnerable

Dundee City Council’s Liberal Democrat Group has called on the council to consider adopting a video doorbells initiative to protect the council’s sheltered housing tenants across the city.

Broughty Ferry councillor Craig Duncan said:

“East Renfrewshire Council is providing free video doorbells to vulnerable residents under a new scheme designed to help those who are experiencing a high number of cold callers or have been a victim of a scam."

“It is also getting its trading standards team to look at other safety measures that can be put in place.  This includes supporting residents to ensure the correct privacy settings are in place when the video doorbells system is set up at a tenants’ house."

"We think the safety and security of the council’s older tenants in sheltered housing is vitally important and the Liberal Democrat group on the council thinks that Dundee City Council should look further into this initiative in East Renfrewshire to see if it could be adapted as appropriate and introduced in Dundee.”

His group colleague, West End councillor Fraser Macpherson, added:

“A smart doorbell gives a householder added security to keep their home both secure and safe.   It allows the householder to see who is knocking at their door without answering it and say no to cold callers without having to engage in conversation."

“Given the on-going concerns about scams, there seems to be a lot of merit in Dundee considering rolling this out to older folk."

“East Renfrewshire Council is also using its trading standards team to install nuisance call phone blockers free of charge to vulnerable residents, where a resident is receiving high numbers of nuisance calls and this is another good initiative that Dundee City Council could be doing more of for older residents.”

The council’s Head of Community Safety and Protection, responded stating :

“It is not something that we have yet deployed in terms of deterring scams through our trading standards team. I'll ask the team to liaise with colleagues in East Renfrewshire to find out more about their scheme, including how they funded for it. They do have limited numbers of call monitoring devices that can be used to deter telephone scams.”

Councillor Duncan concluded:

 “I am pleased Dundee City Council will look further at this initiative as doing everything we can to have the best possible home security for older residents. Whilst the majority of people who knock on your door are likely to be genuine, we have had instances across Dundee of rogue traders and other bogus callers."

“The video doorbells initiative further helps to allow older tenants to remain independent and safer in their own homes, giving them and their families greater peace of mind.”