Policing Matters

By Chief Inspector Rob Hay

Like many other officers I squeezed in my summer holidays at the start of this month, facing an embargo on leave throughout July until after the Commonwealth Games.

Whilst I let off some steam with the family, I left my Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Andy Bates (otherwise known as ‘The Boss’!) to deliver our first year’s results to the scrutiny committee at East Dunbartonshire Council.

Our Local Policing Plan for East Dunbartonshire (which you can view on our website) saw some notable success.

Serious violent crime down over 23 per cent to just 66 crimes. 28 less victims of serious assault, 22 less victims of common assault.

A 26.9 per cent reduction in disorder and anti-social behaviour, equivalent to 1774 less incidents.

We did not deliver this in isolation however, but with the help of our partners in other agencies; reinforcing the good work of local community police and response policing officers, supported by the specialist departments that we are able to access as part of Police Scotland.

None of this could be achieved without the support of you, the public, of course. Our basic principle is that we police by consent in Scotland and in order to do that local communities must have trust and confidence in the service we provide.

There has been much controversy in the press about the use of stop & search tactics, perhaps to the point where it starts to erode that confidence in some places.

Whatever you may have read elsewhere, I want to assure you that I will never send your local community police officers out to do stop & search simply to chase a numerical target.

It is about searching the right people, in the right place, at the right time, in order to keep people safe. My officers are clear: it is their job to chase bad guys, not figures! Until next time, stay safe.