Operation Respect

Inverness Winter Festival in Scotland – Operation Respect

With the Christmas holiday season almost upon us, now is a good time to remind people to take steps to make sure your Christmas isn’t spoiled by criminals. This year we want you to have fun whilst out shopping or on your night out.

Operation Respect initiative was created to engender respect for each other and for other’s property all year round, but especially during this festive period.

With the advent of the Winter Festival and the anticipated increase in numbers of visitors to the City Centre the Council, Northern Constabulary and Inverness BID agreed to formulate a plan which would draw in support from a wide cross section of the Community. Partner organisations include:

Crimestoppers

Scottish Licensed Trade Association

Inverness Bed and Breakfast Association

Highland Youth Forum

The Street Pastors

Inverness Crime Prevention Panel

Operation Respect allows the Partners to link resources to enhance the amenity of the City Centre and provide (via the Nightrider Bus scheme – run with the help of Stagecoach) another option for a safe passage home for visitors to the City’s night time economy.

Street Pastors play a large part in the town centre providing an invaluable service every weekend and are on the streets until the wee hours, assisting those who may have problems.

Jim Ferguson Chairman of Crimestoppers Highlands and Islands, spent an evening with the Street Pastors just recently observing how the volunteers work and said:
“I was very impressed to see the Street Pastors in action as they went out to help those on the streets in many different ways. They were well received and their gentle approach seemed to calm certain situations down that may otherwise have ended in violence. Their outreach and care was inspiring and it was a pleasure to have been invited out to see how they operated.”

So what can we do to make sure we have fun and remain safe?

The Inverness Crime Prevention Panel have applied normal crime prevention advice to Christmas and this is common sense, but you might overlook it in your haste to get everything ready.

Out on the town

With office parties and general Christmas celebrations, pubs, restaurants and other venues are often crowded. Don’t leave bags over the back of your chair and keep wallets and purses close to your body to make it more difficult for the pickpocket. Busy places make it easier for the sneak thief, so be alert at all times.
Make prior arrangements as to how you will get home. Avoid any potential disturbances on the street. Stay with friends if you can. Make sure someone knows where you are going and what time you will be back.
Don’t drink too much – you could become a target for thieves.
Take precautions against Drink spiking – Keep your glass with you, never leaving it unattended and keep it covered.

Nightrider Bus Service

For the second year Operation Respect will be providing a FREE Nightrider bus service for home travel after midnight, enabling you to come into the city for an evening out without taking a car.
Please do not drink and drive – to do so risks your own life and others and incurs heavy penalties, possibly prison and financially.

The late night buses will be running during the festive season free of charge. The service will run between 11.30pm until 4am.
Bus time tables will be on display in Pubs, Clubs and on the Buses themselves.
Please make good use of this service.

Shopping

Criminals take the opportunities afforded them by the extra shopping we do. They prey on the opportunity created by the hustle and bustle of town centres as we rush around and try to take advantage of the value of the goods we buy as presents and store in our homes until the big day.
We might also be more trusting and generous at Christmas when requests for charity are made, giving the unscrupulous a chance to collect for their own causes.
When the shops are crowded, the pickpocket has more chance to steal from you. If you can’t arrange to shop during less busy times, make sure you stay alert and be extra careful with your wallet or purse. If you have too many bags you will be too busy trying to hold on to these to be aware of anyone stealing from you.
You could try to make smaller shopping trips rather than do it all at once and carry too much. Have your purse/wallet close to your body and don’t carry too much cash. The same applies to travelling on crowded buses or trains. If you travel by car, make sure you park in a well-lit area, lock all doors and windows and do not leave presents in view.
Try not to return to your car to leave purchases in the boot before continuing with your shopping trip as thieves may well watch car parks for just such a chance. Arrange to collect heavy items from stores when you have finished all your shopping. Keep your chequebook and cheque card separately.

Blue Light Discos are Proving to be Major Attraction

These popular events have been a great success with the next being on 20^th December. This next disco will be a special night called a Silent Disco and held at the Ironworks when the party revellers will have the unique experience of have music transmitted wirelessly to headphones.

The evenings have been generously supported by Next, Tesco and Mcdonalds with generous Raffle Prizes.

Liz Gilchrist, Vice Chair of Inverness Crime Prevention added:
“I was really pleased at the support received from the four national companies who have businesses based in Inverness, particularly Tesco who have been proactive supporting this type of partnership initiative throughout the country and encouraging safer neighbourhoods”.

Jim Ferguson Chair of Crimestoppers Highlands and Islands also thanked the companies for their generous support and said:
“I hope the Disco’s go from strength to strength as it is the type of event which is to be encouraged, proving that a fun evening could be had without alcohol”.

Steven Kerr of Inverness Business Improvement District and newly appointed Chairman of the Blue Light Steering Group said:
“I was delighted with the success of our events and we are working to encourage even more young people to attend future Blue Light Discos. Steven went on to say that visits would be made to all the Senior Schools in the area to promote future events to the 13 -16 year age groups.

Next event, Silent Disco: 20^th December, Ironworks at 7.00pm

Ticket Price: £4.00 or £3 (with a voucher from bebo/facebook)
Includes FREE Face Art and FREE Raffle Ticket.
If you purchase your entrance ticket in advance it will allow you free bus transport – Just show your ticket to the Driver.
BUY ONLINE:http://www.ironworksvenue.com or Contact 0871 789 4173

Left to right:
Steven Kerr – Chair of Blue Light. Pam Kennedy – Inverness BID.
Rhona Brindle – Community Champion – Tesco. Jim Ferguson – Chair of Inverness Crime Prevention Panel.

Crimestoppers in co-operation with Inverness Crime Prevention Panel, Police and Highland Council, wish everyone a very happy festive period.

Finally, anyone should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
if they have information about any criminal activity and wish to remain anonymous.
(Crimestoppers is a Registered Charity.)

Inverness Crime Prevention Panel website for further information: http://www.icpp.co.uk

Have Fun – Be Safe!

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Operation Respect ‘model’ should be run in other areas that are experiencing problems with antisocial behaviour and violence

Chief Inspector highlights success of Operation Respect – Inverness

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.

	2008	2009
Incidents	155	130

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.

Incident Type	2008	2009
Disturbance/Noise	56	30
Drunk Person	8	8
Children/Youths	7	7
Drugs	7	4
Vandalism	7	6
Advisory Call	6	8
Breach of the Peace	4	7

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:

Crimes	2008	2009
Made Known	360	344

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

Crime	2008	2009
Breach of the Peace	74	33
Vandalism	46	5
Minor Assault	28	27
Theft	26	18
Domestic Breach of the Peace	16	1

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

Street	2008	2009
Grant Street	7	6
Anderson Street	6	3
Wyvis Place	5	0
Kessock Road	5	3
Upper Kessock Street	4	1
Abbey Court	3	0

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

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Inverness Winter Festival in Scotland – Operation Respect

Next event, Silent Disco: 20^th December, Ironworks at 7.00pm