Licensing Officers were joined by the Convener of the Licensing Board @CllrNormanWork visiting licensed premises in Clermiston & South Queensferry to promote Police Scotland’s #DontAskForIt campaign yesterday.
It is a criminal offence to buy alcohol for someone under 18. You could receive a £5000 fine or upto 3 months in prison.
Police are appealing for witnesses after a number of car tyres were vandalised overnight from Sunday 17 October into Monday 18 October 2021 in The Glebe, Manse Road and Almondside areas of Kirkliston.
We would appeal to the local community living in or near these streets to check any CCTV or doorbell camera footage and any drivers who were in the area at the time and who may have a dash cam, to review the footage and get in touch if you believe it may be able to assist us.
Information can be passed to Police Scotland via 101 quoting reference number 0569 of 18 October, 2021 or alternatively via the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Local and national resources from Police Scotland will again come together to keep communities across the country safe during the weekends of Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night.
Local area commanders the length and breadth of the country, in collaboration with Divisional Commanders, have designed policing plans for scheduled events and to take into account sporadic incidents.
These plans will be enhanced with national resources, including tactically-located specially trained public officers, if required, who will deploy in support of colleagues where required.
A policing operation under the name Moonbeam has been stood up since 2018 in response to significant public disorder and anti-social behaviour in 2017, which included targeted attacks on the blue light services responding to emergency calls on what is typically one of the busiest periods of the year.
It has been activated as both a reassurance for communities, our officers and their colleagues, and as a deterrent to those who may set out to cause disorder and engage in criminality.
Since the operation was first instigated there have been decreases in the levels of disorder witnessed around these events, including in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic substantially curtailed the number of organised fireworks displays which were held.
The Executive Lead for Operation Moonbeam, Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, said: “Both Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night fall on weekends this year, which also land during our policing operation for the COP26 climate change conference taking place in Glasgow.
“While this will undoubtedly be a time of exceptional demand on the police, and all of our emergency services colleagues, I can assure the public and our partners that we are fully committed to responding to any disorder which may occur as a result of these annual events.
“Owing to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 , there are far fewer organised events taking place this year, but be assured plans are in place to manage any problematic unauthorised events which may occur.
“I encourage those who are parents to young people to speak clearly and seriously to them about the potential for personal injury when handling fireworks, as well as the devastating damage they can cause to property. In addition, anti-social behaviour and violence can have life-long consequences, including a criminal record, regardless of their age.
“We absolutely will not tolerate our officers, or our colleagues in the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service, being lured into situations where they face being subjected to violent attacks.
“We will do all we can to prevent these incidents occurring in the first place, but should they happen, we will respond in whatever means necessary to keep our people and our communities safe.”
Police Scotland are hosting a recruitment event aimed at people from minority ethnic communities with the opportunity to hear from serving BME officers.
Tues 19/10/21 6pm–9pm Fettes Police Station 5 Fettes Ave Edinburgh EH4 1RB
Contact: recruitmentpositiveactionteam@scotland.pnn.police.uk
Police Scotland is ready to deliver one of the largest policing operations undertaken in Britain as extensive planning for the COP26 climate conference reaches the final stages.
Around 10,000 officers will be deployed each day to support the safety and security of the event in Glasgow next month, at which around 120 world leaders and heads of state are expected to attend.
The planning operation, which has been under way for almost two years, has been the largest undertaken by Police Scotland.
Officers will be drafted from every division and department in Police Scotland, supported by a substantial number of colleagues from other UK police services as part of mutual aid arrangements. Deployments will include specialist resources such as firearms officers, dog handlers, mounted branch, search teams and the marine unit.
COP26, the United Nations 26th Conference of the Parties, is an annual summit organised by the UN where world leaders and thousands of delegates come together to tackle climate change issues.
This year’s event takes place from 31 October to 12 November at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow.
Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said: “Police Scotland is ready and well prepared to deliver this operation which will involve one of the biggest mobilisation of police assets the UK has ever seen.
“With around 120 world leaders and heads of state attending, along with thousands of delegates and those who wish to protest, the scale of the security operation cannot be overstated. It is a huge challenge but one we are ready to deal with.
“Police Scotland has an enviable reputation throughout the world for the policing of major events and I am confident that we will once again deliver a response which helps deliver a safe and secure conference.”
Police Scotland’s style and tone of policing will be friendly, fair and accommodating for anyone wishing to protest during the event.
All mutual aid officers will be under the command and control of the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and will receive detailed briefings on the style and tone of policing ahead of being deployed.
DCC Kerr said: “Police Scotland is a rights-based organisation and has a duty under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest, balanced against the rights of the wider community.
“We will provide a proportionate policing response to any protests and have been engaging with known protest groups for some time to ensure their rights to peaceful assembly and protest are met.
“Those wishing to protest have a responsibility to do so within the law and I would remind the small minority of people who may be intent on violent disorder or causing damage that we will deal with them swiftly and robustly.
“The policing of protests is a particularly difficult balancing act when they are non-violent and peaceful but highly disruptive or unlawful.
“People at protests sometimes break the law in a number of ways that aren’t linked to violence or disorder, such as blocking roads.
“Some disruption is inevitable during the event, if someone is causing significant disruption by wilfully obstructing a main traffic route then officers may move through the various stages of our graduated response more quickly than they would during instances which are causing minimum disruption.
“A considerable part of our planning for COP26 has been to ensure that the communities of Scotland continue to receive the same high standard of service from policing that they have come to expect.
“Policing, so often the service of first and last resort, will never step away from people in crisis.
“There are pressures which exist across many other services, agencies and sectors, and when the health service, local authorities and other key partners come under significant strain, demand is diverted to policing.
“However, Police Scotland prioritises emergency 999 calls and these are answered within less than 10 seconds, on average. Our non-emergency response times continue to be affected by high demand.
“While an event the size of COP26 places considerable demands on policing, we already have contingencies in place and are taking steps to boost those over the coming weeks.
“Although there is potential for further disruption should pressure on other agencies and services persist and become more acute, particularly as the country prepares for COP26, I can reassure the public that if they need an emergency response from us they will get it.”
Men must take responsibility for ending sexual violence by changing their attitudes and behaviours towards women as well as challenging those of their peers. Police Scotland’s latest sexual crime prevention campaign continues to put the cause of sexual offending where it belongs – with men.
The That Guy campaign builds on previous Police Scotland #GetConsent campaigns, targeting men aged 18 – 35 years who are most likely to commit sexual offences.
Its aim is to urge men to take responsibility for their actions and language to help affect a culture change to tackle sexual crime against women.
The campaign features a new advert which will run on several online platforms, including social media.
Launching the campaign, Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, Police Scotland said: “It’s time that we men reflected on our own behaviours and attitudes – and those of our friends, family and colleagues – towards women in order to prevent rape, sexual assault and harassment.
“We want all women to be free to live their lives without worrying about their safety.
“Women are not responsible for the sexual offences committed against them and should be able to go about their daily lives without worrying about being sexually harassed, assaulted or raped.
“It’s up to men to step up, to not be ‘that guy’ and to stop sexual offending before it starts.”
A 15-year-old girl has been charged in connection with a racially aggravated assault. The incident happened shortly after 9pm last Friday (8th October) on Leith Street.
A report will be submitted to the youth justice authorities.
Chief Inspector Clark Martin said: ““Racism and discrimination of any kind is unacceptable and has no place in our society and we thoroughly investigate all incidents which are reported to us.
“We also work closely with a range of partner agencies, including universities and students organisations, to ensure students and young people feel safe in our city.
“We will be carrying out additional patrols in Edinburgh city centre to reassure people and to address any concerns. These patrols will be carried out with a specific focus on youth disorder.”
A man has been arrested and charged following an attempted robbery at a convenience store on West Granton Road.
The incident happened around 7.45am yesterday (Sunday, 10 October). The 31-year-old man is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow (Tuesday 12 October).
Detective Inspector Kevin Tait said: “Fortunately no one was hurt and there was no threat to the wider public. I would like to thank the public for their patience.”
Police officers and staff in Scotland are being provided with improved and updated identification.
The new warrant and authorisation cards include additional security features which make them more difficult to replicate.
Officers and staff are also being encouraged to provide a clear, up to date, photograph for use on the cards and, where images are over 10 years old, a new image is required.
Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: “The provision of new warrant and authorisation cards is an important opportunity to ensure identification includes clear, up to date, images of officers and staff.
“The new identification also includes enhanced security features which makes it harder to replicate.
“Officers work all across Scotland, every minute of every day to help people and will approach any member of the public who appears distressed or vulnerable, to offer support and assistance.
“The onus is on policing to build and maintain the public confidence and consent critical to our legitimacy and our ability to keep our communities and citizens safe.
“Officers will always carry identification and will be happy to provide further reassurance about who they are and their reason for speaking with someone if requested, including through the new verification process introduced on 2 October.”
The new warrant and authorisation cards feature the Police Scotland logo, a hologram and the signature of Chief Constable Iain Livingstone.
The cards have been developed over a number of months and will be rolled-out in the coming weeks.
Police continue to be made aware of an increasing number of so-called “sextortion” crimes recently, with more and more social media users falling victim to this unpleasant type of scam.
These usually involve the victim being enticed to send nude or explicit photos or videos to someone who has befriended them online, then being blackmailed into sending money (or in some incidents, gift cards) to prevent them being distributed to people they know.
Detective Sergeant Oliver Healy from Gayfield Police CID said: “The perpetrator’s aim is to build trust and convince the victim that they are interested in becoming involved in an online sexual interaction with them which often takes place via a video chat platforms initiated by the perpetrator.
“During the video chat, the perpetrator will persuade the victim to expose themselves which they record without the victim’s knowledge. This will be followed up by a demand for money from the victim and the threat of sharing the recordings with their friends and family.
“We would ask people to consider what they share and who they share it with. They should, ideally, only share pictures online that they are happy with their friends, family and others seeing. Switching communication from one platform to another is a tactic used during these scams to gain as much information about a victim.
“The simplest way to avoid falling victim is to refrain from accepting friend requests from people you don’t know.
“If you find yourself being blackmailed or extorted in this way, contact us on 101 or 999 in an emergency. You will be given support and your report will be taken in utmost confidence.”
Further information on keeping safe online can be found on the website – http://ow.ly/yT4C50GmHjz
