Anti-yobs squad night patrol

A new swoop squad of night officers is said to be making life tough for louts who cause trouble late at night and at weekends.

The council-run team has been operating with no publicity since January, but this month went “live” following reported success.

Cumbernauld has its own dedicated team within an area-wide organisation, and after just three months in operation is said to be making its presence felt.

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Its officers were recently involved with an investigation that led to a number of reports being made to the procurator fiscal, following an alleged incident in Croy.

The late call squad was set up in response to figures showing that 85 per cent of all incidents take place at weekends, and is active at up to 5am on Fridays and Saturdays.

A spokesman said: “Serious incidents are being tackled head on.

“During the initial pilot, the new service averaged 271 calls a month, with 103 of these call-outs for our night team.l

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“We’ve issued 55 warnings at the time of the incident and resolved the matter, carried out 88 advice visits and attended an incident of excessive noise which resulted in us seizing equipment.”

Officers also, for example, reported a breach of an antisocial behaviour order and carriedo out 21 visits together with police.

Changes to the service mean officers can now hand out on-the-spot fines, remove noise nuisance equipment from rowdy homes.

Council deputy leader Councillor Jim Smith said: “North Lanarkshire Council is just one of the partners that make up North Lanarkshire’s Community Safety Partnership.

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We’re committed to making a real difference in North Lanarkshire, for the people of North Lanarkshire and the new antisocial response team will use all the powers available to it to take the strongest possible action against antisocial residents.”