Agenda item

Update by Inspector M. Bennett.

Inspector Bennett advised that a newDivisional Commander had been appointed for the Lothians and Scottish Borders area since the last meeting of the Tweeddale Area Forum.    Chief Superintendent Ivor Marshall took up his role on 18 May and said: “It is a pleasure and a privilege to have been appointed as the Police Commander for the Lothians and Scottish Borders – my local division. Building upon all the good work of my predecessors and drawing upon the ongoing commitment and hard work of all officers and staff, I am confident that the Division will deliver positive outcomes in keeping with agreed local plans. We will be relentless in our prevention and detection of crime, we will be resolute in protecting citizens from harm, and we will be proactive in promoting the wellbeing of everyone who lives in or visits the Lothians and Scottish Borders.  Having the support of local communities is vitally important to our work so we will ensure that our values of integrity, fairness and respect sit at the heart of all that we do so that we maintain the trust and confidence of the people we serve.”

In relation to bicycle thefts, Inspector Bennett advised that the Community Safety Team had secured funding from Scottish Borders Council to buy products from Bike Register which could be used to mark bikes with a “tamper-proof” sticker, and record details of owners on a national database.   Events were being planned to deliver a crime prevention method to bike owners within the area.   A dedicated team of Officers within the Division was investigating a number of thefts and a number of bikes had been recovered, which would assist enquiries into tracing the perpetrators.   Those unable to attend the Farm Fire Safety and Crime Prevention Event on 9 June at Haswellsykes Farm, Peebles could access an excellent guide to farmers and wider community at the following link - http://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/home-and-personal-property/rural-crime     Alternatively, further information was available from the Scottish Borders Safer Communities Team by calling 01835 823204. Police Officers were aware that there had been frequent gatherings of young people at the Sware and Meldons during evenings at the weekends. There were concerns that teenagers were meeting and consuming alcohol and drugs while socialising with friends.    Direct action had been taken against the youths, including searching them for drugs and alcohol. It was essential that all complaints about driving behaviour were notified to the police via 101 at the time.  Every call was graded by call takers and allocated accordingly, so while Officers might be unavailable to attend at the time if they were committed to a higher priority incident, they would be able to note statements to pursue offences.   There had been an increase in the number of detections for drink driving in the Scottish Borders, with people being caught in rural locations, having been drinking at a village pub and then choosing to drive home.  The message from Police Scotland was very simple - if you are intending driving, do not drink.  The public were encouraged to report all drink drivers either directly to the Police on 101 or report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 55 111.   Inspector Bennett reminded the meeting that Police Scotland’s public consultation process was now online and open all year, the link for the survey was https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/8LMB9WX   Inspector Bennett advised that this would be his last visit to the Area Forum because he was being moved to a post in Melrose.   He was thanked for his attendance at the Area Forums.

DECISION

NOTED.