Crimestoppers is urging the public of the Highlands and Islands to call them with information which could help Police in their efforts to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in the region.

Northern Constabulary has enjoyed a successful year and has taken hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs off the streets.

Both Crimestoppers and Police say they must not be complacent and have vowed to continue to target those involved in the drugs trade and any other form of serious and organised crime.

Crimestoppers’ National Training and Development Manager, Iain Froggett visited Northern Constabulary HQ last week to speak to Police and partner agencies about the work of the crime fighting charity and underline the independent charity’s commitment to helping Police tackle the drugs menace.

Mr Froggett was invited by Crimestoppers Highland chairman Jim Ferguson, who organised event.

Jim Ferguson Highlands and Islands regional chairman said: “I was delighted to have Ian Froggett attend today’s meeting which clearly shows the high level of support from Crimestoppers nationally for the Highlands and Islands region.

“The region has shown a 6% increase in the number of calls received over last year and a 40% rise in the number of arrests all due to information received from Crimestoppers which is highly encouraging.

“Crimestoppers is effective in the fight against crime and we are all striving hard to tackle the problems that affect our communities. Our board has been very active, regularly attending community council meetings and giving presentations to interested groups.”

He added: “We appreciate the dedication of Northern Constabulary and their support of Crimestoppers in our combined efforts to make our communities safer.

“Crimestoppers offer a completely anonymous way of passing information to law enforcement and clearly the Highlands is increasingly using the service which we provide to good effect.”

Mr Froggett said: “It is great to visit the low crime areas encompassed by the Highlands of Scotland, but to keep it that way, we need people to be vigilant. If they feel they cannot report information about criminal activity to the police for fear of being identified or because they are too close to an offender, then Crimestoppers offers the ideal means.

“We promise total anonymity to all callers whether they use:
Telephone: 0800 555 111 or choose to report online from our website www.crimestoppersscotland-uk.org/

Even the smallest piece of information we receive will be passed to the police and it may be the key to supporting a successful investigation.”

He added: “Offenders are the people who should fear the consequences of crime and by working closely with communities at large, with Crimestoppers volunteers and the police, we can help reduce the availability of controlled drugs and help in the prosecution of those who supply them.”

Deputy Chief Constable Garry Sutherland said: “We are grateful for the continued support we receive from Crimestoppers.

“Some members of the public may feel they cannot contact Police with information, for whatever reason, and in those circumstances Crimestoppers can provide an alternative solution.

“The Crimestoppers service offers people crucial reassurance that the information they are providing is being treated completely anonymously.

“Historically, information provided through Crimestoppers has played a part in the solving of a number of crimes in the Northern Constabulary area and we look forward to further developing that partnership, to ensure the Highlands and Islands remain among the safest places in the UK to live, work and invest.”

Ends

The campaign, which is led by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and runs throughout Scotland saw a total of 29 drink drivers detected in the Northern Constabulary area during the four week campaign period, which is 19 fewer than last year.

In addition, this year saw the introduction of the Vehicle Forfeiture initiative, where those caught drink driving after a previous conviction of the same offence faced having their vehicle seized with the potential of being sold or destroyed. This initiative is set to continue out with the campaign. Northern Constabulary have seized two vehicles and their owners will find out their fate following court forfeiture hearings.

Northern Constabulary continued with the policy of detaining certain drink drivers until the next available court date, which saw sixteen people spend at least one night in custody.

Head of Road Policing, Inspector John Smith commented: “I am encouraged to see a reduction in those committing such offences on our roads and listening to our road safety messages that we heavily promote at this time of year.

“I would like to thank members of the public for their contribution to making our roads safer as we saw a number of people caught drink driving after being reported by concerned citizens, which included friends and family members.

“The Vehicle Forfeiture initiative, I feel, has played an important role by introducing an additional serious financial loss to individuals as well as facing the outcome of court proceedings, which could include loss of licence or imprisonment.

“Despite the numerous warnings a number of people chose to ignore the messages issued and put themselves and other members of the public at risk by drinking and driving.

“We will continue to target those committing these serious offences and encourage members of the public to continue to support us and report those they suspect may be drink or drug driving.”

ends

With the advent of the Winter Festival and the anticipated increase in the number of visitors to the city centre, key strategic partners formed the Inverness City Partnership in March and include the Highland Council, Northern Constabulary, Inverness BID (Business Development District) and Safeinverness.

It was agreed they would formulate a plan to draw together support from a wide cross section of the community. This collaborative approach includes vital support from other organisations such as Crimestoppers, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Inverness Bed and Breakfast Association, Highland Youth Forum, The Street Pastors and Inverness Crime Prevention Panel.

Representatives from Northern Constabulary, Inverness City Partnership and Safeinverness joined Inverness Provost Jimmy Gray for the launch of Operation Respect at the Victorian Market in the city centre this morning.

Inverness Area Commander, Chief Inspector Andrew MacLean, Chair of Safeinverness and Crimestoppers Highland chairman Jim Ferguson, Inverness City Manager, David Haas, Provost Jimmy Gray, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Inverness City Committee

Northern Constabulary, the lead agency in the Inverness Partnership, will be increasing patrols in the city centre over the coming weeks, ensuring a high visibility presence, particularly during peak shopping and socialising times.

Operation Respect has been hugely popular and indeed successful in other areas of the city already this year, having been run in the Hilton and Merkinch areas of the city in response to community concerns regarding anti-social behaviour.

Part of the scheme will include Inverness City Centre Partnership’s funding of the Nightrider bus service during peak times. The buses, which will service three main routes (Culloden, Smithton & Balloch; Hilton & Milton of Leys; Kinmylies & Dalneigh) and will ferry revellers home safely and out of the city centre.

The bus service will be available from 4 December and will run every weekend until the end of the year, including the busiest nights, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The service will run between 11.30pm until 4am. Bus time tables will be on display in pubs, clubs and on the buses themselves.

The popular Taxi Marshall scheme will also be in operation to ensure safety at taxi ranks at closing time, supported by the Street Pastors, Safeinverness and the Police.

The Retail Task Team will be working in the city centre throughout the festive period to deal with all retail related issues with support, where required, from Northern Constabulary officers.

Inverness Area Commander, Chief Inspector Andrew MacLean said: “Operation Respect has been very successful in other areas of the city in recent months and we aims to carry on that success in the city centre over the busy festive period.

“We want to ensure that shoppers and those who are out and about over the coming weeks can enjoy themselves without fear of crime and feel safe. We must make it clear that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated by Police and we will take a robust stance in relation to this type of crime.

“People want to enjoy the festivities and not be worried about becoming a victim of crime. We would also like to remind people that if they are out socialising to drink responsibly and take care of friends and family, ensuring they all get home safely. The Nightbus service is very welcome and will ensure people get out of the city centre and home safely.”

He added: “We will be providing a high visibility presence in the city centre over the coming weeks and we are grateful for the support from the agencies involved in Operation Respect.”

Chief Inspector MacLean also has a message for Christmas shoppers, reminding them to be vigilant when it comes to vehicle security.

He said: “Although we will have increased numbers of officers out there I would urge shoppers to take the necessary precautions, such as ensuring they don’t leave valuables in their vehicles in plain sight. This encourages opportunist thieves. Christmas is a very expensive time for everyone, especially in the current climate, and we would urge people to be vigilant.”

Provost Jimmy Gray, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Inverness City Committee said: “Operation Respect” aims to complement our efforts in organising the Inverness Winter Festival by working with our partners in the police, ambulance service, business and the community to ensure that our streets are safe for people to enjoy the activities we are providing and that they are kept clean and tidy.

“We are seeking a buy in from the public to at all times demonstrate good citizenship by not dropping litter and reporting any inappropriate behaviour to the authorities.”

Inverness City Manager, David Haas said: “At the heart of the activities of the Inverness Partnership is the need to focus on the need to combine efforts to produce outcomes which improve the daily lives of residents and visitors to the city.

“Operation Respect is about enhancing the already high standards and more than meeting the expectations of those experiencing our city centre.”

He added: “This partnership approach also acts to provide support to the city’s businesses at a time when they are feeling the full force of the economic downturn.”

Chair of Safeinverness and Crimestoppers Highland chairman Jim Ferguson, said: “Safe Inverness fully supports Operation Respect and we are delighted to be a partner in this worthwhile crime reducing and safety endeavour.

ends

After the success of the multi-agency Operation Respect in the town centre over the 2008 Christmas period, it was decided that the Operation Respect ‘model’ should be run in other areas that were experiencing problems with antisocial behaviour and violence.

The partners included elected councillors, Northern Constabulary, MP33, youth workers, street pastors and Merkinch Partnership.

Operation Respect began in the Merkinch beat on the 15^th May and ran until the 15^th August 2009. The intentions of this Operation were fivefold:

1 To maximise public safety looking for a sustainable solution to the needs of the community.

1 To meet the needs of the community in an intelligence led manner.

1 To heighten awareness to youths and their parents of the dangers of underage and binge drinking.

1 To reduce the quantities of alcohol available for consumption by youths and provide alternatives to youths congregating and behaving in an anti-social manner.

1 To increase the confidence of the local communities in the Police and their partner agencies in their ability to address these issues.

Key initiatives which helped make Operation Respect a success in the Merkinch was the Bike Shed drop in facility.

This venue which was opened and modernised was provided for youngsters to drop in and engage in various activities including art and craft and music. This helped develop these youngsters cultural and social awareness. Educational sessions on health and social welfare were also given to these youngsters.

Other activites took place such as street football which is a well developed diversionary activity for youths taking them away from an inclination to anti social behaviour.

The MP33 facility was also available for young people to participate in computer skills and other such like skills.

Another key part of the Operation was the provision of dedicated police foot patrols in the area.

The rest of this report looks at the effect the whole Operation has had in the area, comparing the period of the Operation in 2009 (15/05/09 – 15/08/09) in comparison with the same period in 2008, specifically during the period of increased and specifically targeted foot patrols by uniformed police officers.

Patrols

High visibility foot patrols were carried out by the Merkinch beat officers for the area between 1900 – 2300 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. In addition, plain clothes patrols were carried out by other officers.

The following table looks at the volume of incidents reported during the patrol period in comparison with the previous year.

The above tables highlight that Operation Respect has positively contributed to the decline of incidents reported between 15/05/09 – 15/08/09, compared to the same period in 2008.

Incident Types

The following table looks at the most prevalent incident types reported during the period of the patrols in comparison with the same time period in 2008, in order to assess whether the Operation has had an effect on the type of incidents reported.

It is evident that incidents involving Advisory Calls and Breach of the Peace have increased since the same period in 2008, although this increase is minor. Disturbance/Noise is continually one of the most commonly reported incidents in the Merkinch, and also throughout Inverness. However, Disturbance/Noise incidents reported appear to have taken a significant drop during the period, compared to the same time last year (a decrease of some 26 incidents).

The number of total crimes reported during this period (15/05/09 – 15/08/09) has also decreased as the following table highlights:

The top 5 reported crimes are illustrated in the table below and show a comparison with the figures for 2008.

The top 5 crimes have seen a large drop in the number reported during the period in 2009. Minor Assaults did not experience a major decrease in incidents reported, but a decrease nonetheless.

Hotspot Streets

The above table shows ‘hotspot’ streets during the period of the Operation, in comparison with the same period last year. Incidents reported have dropped in all of the above ‘hotspot’ streets during the period of the Operation. A reason for the decline in incidents reported on Anderson Street has also happened as a result of the street football initiative. Street football occurs on Anderson Street and is well attended by local children aged 6-13 years. Street Pastors have also had a good reception in the Merkinch area in general.

Displacement

While the number of incidents reported within the Merkinch area have declined over the period of the Operation there has been no displacement of crime or incidents to other parts of the city, in particular adjacent neighbourhoods.

The neighbouring beats saw the following changes in their incident numbers:

Dalneigh – 78 fewer incidents

Scorguie – 10 more incidents

City Centre – 46 fewer incidents

Longman – 11 fewer incidents

The only neighbouring beat which saw an increase in incidents was Scorguie. There is no single incident type that caused this increase, but rather an increase in a variety of incidents, none of which appear to be as a result of Operation Respect. There is no evidence to suggest that individuals from Merkinch are committing acts of antisocial behaviour in other areas.

Alcohol Seized

While there were a significant amount of calls relating to youths congregating and drinking within the Merkinch area, there were few seizures of alcohol from under age drinkers during the period 15/05/2009 – 15/08/2009. A review of incidents during the period under review highlighted that 9.4% of reported incidents concerned youths causing a disturbance. There are likely to be more incidents, as in some cases the culprits were unknown. Three seizures were recorded in both 2008 and 2009. One of the seizures in 2008 came as a result of a shop selling alcohol to an under age male. This shop has since lost its licence as a result of further incidents and is now closed. The action taken by the police and council regarding this shop has helped the issue.

One of the shops in Merkinch has agreed to stop selling Buckfast, and it is anticipated that this will have a positive effect in the area, as it is often consumed by under age drinkers. Furthermore, a test purchase operation was carried out at a shop in the Merkinch area during the operational period and the sale of alcohol was refused.

The number of incidents reported during the time of the patrols decreased on every day and time in 2009 in comparison with 2008, aside from Friday between 2200 and 2300 hours. There is no single explanation for this, with incidents reported during this period taking place at different locations within Merkinch.

Conclusion

1 The figures highlight that Operation Respect – Merkinch has had a positive effect on the number of incidents reported within the area

FOOTNOTE FOR EDITORS – Any of the elected councillors for the area are available for comment – Peter Corbett; Beth MacAllister; Janet MacRae, Donnie Kerr

NORTHERN Constabulary’s North Division, which includes Caithness, Sutherland, East Ross, Orkney and Shetland, has a new Divisional Commander. Newly promoted Superintendent Julian Innes takes over from Superintendent Ian Arnott who is now heading up the East Division.

Supt Innes, previously Chief Inspector and Area Commander for Northern Constabulary’s busiest beat, Inverness, joined Northern Constabulary in 1986 and was first stationed in Inverness. After four years he moved to the small one officer station of Boat of Garten, working and living in the community for two years, where he played an active role in running the youth club and primary school football team.

Julian then moved back to Headquarters, Inverness in the the role of HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) manager, working on many notable incidents, including the Orkney murder.

After a short spell in Portree as CID officer for the Syke and Lochalsh area, Julian was promoted in1998 to Detective Sergeant to the Scottish Crime Squad in Glasgow, where for the next four years he took part in proactive operations targeting the top ten percent of criminals in Scotland. He also became a surveillance instructor and taught at the Scottish Police College in Tuilliallan.

Julian returned from Glasgow in 2002, taking up the post of Detective Sergeant for the Caithness and Sutherland Command Area, before moving to Headquarters, Inverness in the role of Director of Intelligence, with responsibility for the Force Intelligence Bureau and Special Branch. During this period he led on the introduction of the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID). During his time at Headquarters, Julian also had roles with responsibility for Child Protection, Offender Management, HOLMES and the Scientific Support Unit and then staff office supporting the Chief Constable and other executive officers and performing the role of ACPOS Diversity Secretariat.

Julian was promoted to Chief Inspector Area Commander for Inverness in 2008 with responsibility for community and response policing across the city as well as the Divisional Traffic Wardens.

Promoted to Superintendent in June this year, Julian has moved to Wick on taking up the role of Divisional Commander for the North Division. He said:

“I am looking forward very much to working with my new team, getting to know the communities in the North of the Highlands and the North Isles and building on excellent policing work in this region. Having worked as a Detective Sergeant in Caithness and Sutherland during my career, I know the area and am aware of the local issues. The Highlands and Islands enjoy the reputation of being one of the safest places to live in the UK and this is a reputation I am keen to uphold. The area, however, is not without crime and I will be taking a proactive stance in targeting criminal activity which blights our communities.”

He went on to say: “Police cannot work in isolation and I aim to build on the good relationship that we have with members of the public and other agencies in our communities.”

Ends

Supt Arnott takes over from Supt Andy Cowie, who was recently promoted to Chief Superintendent in charge of Support Services following the recent retiral of his predecessor Laurie Stewart.

Supt Arnott will be based at Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness and his new team will include Chief Inspector Andrew MacLean, who formerly headed up the Professional Standards and Conduct department.

Chief Inspector MacLean will replace Chief Inspector Julian Innes, the previous Inverness Area Commander, following his promotion to Superintendent and new position as North Division Commander based in Wick.

Originally from Nairn, Ian joined Northern Constabulary through the cadet scheme in 1975 before joining the regular ranks in 1978. After serving an initial post in Dingwall. He served at various other posts in Ross-shire before transferring to the Western Isles in 1985. He returned to Dingwall in 1989 where he remained until 1991 when he was promoted to Sergeant and posted to Lerwick, Shetland.

After eight years in his Sergeant’s post he was promoted to Inspector in 1999. In 2000 he transferred back to Inverness to maintain his Inspector rank with the Performance Service Unit. After a year in that unit he moved to Inverness Area Command at Burnett Road where he continued his Inspector role.

He moved to Headquarters as Inspector in January 2003 within the Operational Support Service Unit before being promoted to Chief Inspector with the unit in April that year. The Chief Inspector’s role within Operational Support, gave Ian responsibility for areas such as firearms, dog section, emergency planning, road safety, media and road policing.

He was promoted to Superintendent in September 2007 and moved to Wick to take up the position of North Division Commander, with responsibility for Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross.

Superintendent Arnott said: “I am very much looking forward to returning to Inverness and the challenge of working in Northern Constabulary’s East Division.

“It is an area I was brought up in and lived in for a number of years. It is one of the safest areas to live in the UK, although I am aware of the policing challenges which exist. I look forward, with my team, to addressing these issues.”

His team at East Division includes Badenoch, Strathspey and Nairn Area Commander, Chief Inspector Donald Henderson, Chief Inspector Jim Neill and newly appointed Inverness Area Commander, Chief Inspector Andrew MacLean.

Chief Inspector MacLean is also an experienced officer with 30 years police service, over 20 of these in the Highlands. He joined Strathclyde Police in 1979 and transferred to Northern Constabulary in 1986.

He has served in various roles in different parts of the Northern Constabulary area which include Skye, Inverness, Mallaig and the Western Isles. He leaves his post as Head of the Professional Standards and Conduct Unit where he served for almost 5 years.

Prior to that he served as Area Commander in the Western Isles. His other posts have included Force Operations Centre Inspector, Crime Prevention Officer for Inverness and Nairn and Staff Officer to the Chief Constable. He also has previous experience working as a constable in Inverness and served as an Inspector instructor at the Scottish Police College.

Chief Inspector MacLean said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to this challenging post and I am looking forward to working with my new colleagues in delivering a quality police service to the people of Inverness. I am encouraged by the professional standards of the police officers and staff serving Northern Constabulary in the Inverness Area Command. The previous divisional management team have initiated and taken forward a lot of good police work. I would hope to bring my own particular skills and experience to the role, which will help me enhance the problem solving policing approach that Northern Constabulary applies to its work in the community.”

Ends

The HISCG agencies are working together to plan and prepare for any impact of Influenza A, (H1N1), and are continually monitoring and assessing the local, regional and national situation.

Dr Ken Oates, Consultant in Public Health, NHS Highland, says:

“Within the Highland council area there have only been 2 confirmed cases identified so far. Both of these are travel related, one in an American tourist and the other in someone recently returned from a holiday in New York. A number of possible cases continue to be investigated by general practitioners each day, but there is currently no evidence of community spread of H1N1 (swine flu) in the local Highland population.”

Chair of HISCG, Chief Constable Ian Latimer says:

“I would like to thank members of staff from all the agencies for the huge amount of work that has been done in recent weeks and months to ensure we are as prepared as we can be to deal with any implications of a pandemic spread of the flu virus. It is anticipated that there will be a greater impact across Scotland as the virus continues to spread. However, the agencies in the Highlands and Islands have a long history of working together and this mutual support and planning stands us in good stead to respond effectively at a local level.”

Dr Oates went on to say: “The vast majority of confirmed cases have a mild illness, but I would like to emphasise the importance of good hygiene in helping to prevent the spread of infection. Practical actions include:

• using a tissue to cover your mouth when coughing and/or sneezing,
• disposing of the tissue promptly and then washing your hands
• washing hands frequently with soap and water, especially after coughing, sneezing and using tissues
• avoiding touching your mouth, eyes and nose unless you have recently cleaned your hands
• using normal household detergent and water to clean surfaces frequently touched by hands”

Ends

The River Watch initiative will see Grampian Police working in partnership with Northern Constabulary, the Spey Fishery Board (SFB) and Marine Scotland.

The main focus of River Watch will be the River Spey, which flows through both Grampian Police and Northern Constabulary force areas.

The aim of the scheme will be to reduce wildlife crime, such as poaching and the illegal removal of fresh water pearl mussels, but at the same time allow Police and their partners to share information and intelligence gathered in relation to other types of rural crime.

It is being led by Grampian Police’s PC Doug Darling of Moray Division, who is also the area’s Wildlife Crime Unit officer.

He said: “There have been increased reports of poaching on the River Spey and in a direct response to this we have put together this initiative with our partner agencies.

“It combines action from Marine Scotland, who tackle illegal fishing at sea with increased co-operation between the Police and water bailiffs from the SFB.”

Grampian Police has committed to providing a single point of contact (PC Darling) for all water bailiffs and estates that wish to join the initiative.

In addition PC Darling will provide all agencies and partners with monthly updates from Police regarding any illegal activity on the river. Agencies and partners will also have the opportunity to share information they obtain with officers, which is similar to the way in which urban schemes such as Pubwatch and Early Warning Schemes operate.

Inspector Craig Donald, Divisional Inspector for Speyside, said:

“This ultimately reflects the importance of this issue in our eyes and how it affects the community along the River Spey.

“Fishing has a major impact on the economy in the area and as such we intend to work with our partners to ensure such criminal activity does not have a negative effect on our communities.

“We would hope to see spin off benefits from this initiative including greater intelligence being gathered regarding criminal activity in general, along the coast and river, which would allow us to take appropriate action.”

Chief Inspector Paul Eddington, Wildlife Crime Co-ordinator at Northern Constabulary, said:
“This initiative is an excellent example of agencies working together at a practical level to tackle this type of crime, which adversely affects rural communities.

“I am very confident that this initiative will make a positive impact on criminal activity in these rural areas.”

Anyone with information regarding illegal fishing, poaching or any other form of suspected crime in these rural areas is urged to contact Grampian Police on 0845 600 5 700,
email PC Darling at Douglas.Darling@grampian.pnn.police.uk
or call Northern Constabulary on 01463 715555.

Divisional Commander and acting Head of Support Services, Chief Superintendent Andy Cowie said, “These awards are a reflection of the very high quality of people who work within Northern Constabulary and the dedication of those officers who serve our communities. This is an opportunity to recognise a number of those people and thank them.”

Two officers and a member of police staff received Area Commander Commendations and twelve officers received Divisional Commander Commendations for a range of bravery and life-saving actions, including rescuing a person from a house fire, providing life-saving first aid and intervention in an attempted suicide.

Two officers received the highest commendation from the Chief Constable. Constable Iain Blackburn and Constable John Graham (now serving in Stornoway) both received the Chief Constable’s commendation for their bravery and professionalism displayed during a critical incident in October 2008, involving the disarming of a very violent individual who was intent on commiting murder.

Chief Constable Ian Latimer praised their actions: “These two officers have shown exceptional bravery, dedication and professionalism. By exercising sound judgement they took action without regard for their own safety and disarmed a violent and dangerous individual who had already stabbed another person. Through their excellent work, a very serious situation was successfully resolved and they undoubtedly prevented a murder.”

Ends

Note to Editors:

Commendations June 2009