We’d like to support Care Experienced Week by reaffirming our commitment and sharing our Care Experienced Pledge which was developed following discussions with the Edinburgh Champions Board on what we can do to better support those with care experience.
The Edinburgh City Division Care Experienced Pledge will guarantee the following:
Where it is identified to police that a care experienced young person has concern for their personal safety at home, we will guarantee a meeting to discuss a safety plan and offer advice should they wish to accept such an offer.
Where a care experienced young person is identified as wanting to join the police (as a constable, special constable or member of police staff) and meets the minimum criteria for application, we will: • facilitate a meeting with a serving probationer constable or member of police staff to discuss the practicalities and demands of the role, and • offer support with the recruitment process via the Divisional Training Sergeant or police staff equivalent, and • guarantee them a meeting with a member of the Local Area Command team should they wish support in the application process
Where it is identified that a care experienced young person has been successful in the recruitment process and wishes additional support, we will identify a mentor for them for the length of their probationary period.
We will actively promote the Police Scotland Youth Volunteers programme to care experienced young people.
Police are appealing for information after a serious road crash in Edinburgh on Sunday (24 October).
Around 4.15pm on Sunday afternoon, a road crash took place on Seafield Road involving a Nissan Juke and a Volvo V40.
Emergency services attended and the 85 year-old female driver of the Volvo, her 87-year-old male passenger, and the 32-year-old male driver of the Nissan were all taken by Ambulance to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
Hospital staff describe the condition of the 87-year-old man as critical, the condition of the 85-year-old woman as serious but stable, and the 32-year-old man as serious but stable.
Sergeant Iain McIntyre of the Divisional Road Policing Unit at Dalkeith is appealing for any witnesses to the crash, or anyone with dash-cam footage to contact 101 quoting reference number 2518 of 24 October.
Lothians list MSP Foysol Choudhury has called for co-operation to keep women safe following reports of drinks spiking incidents in Edinburgh.
The Labour MSP said: “Many constituents have been in touch regarding the recent reported spiking incidents in Edinburgh. The council has implemented a number of measures to ensure women’s safety, particularly during the night-time economy.
“This includes a a network of 193 interconnected CCTV cameras in locations that have been identified as real or emerging hotspots for antisocial or other behaviour that can compromise safety.
“A network of an additional 13 mobile CCTV cameras are also deployed on a weekly basis to ensure safety in public places. All permanent and mobile CCTV cameras are monitored 24-hours, 7 days per week.
“They are also interlinked and connected with Shop Watch, Pub Watch and Police radio, so as soon as an incident or concern arises, an immediate coordinated response is triggered.
“This response can involve Police officers, and/or Street Assist , whose responsibility is to support people who are identified as being potentially vulnerable.
“The Edinburgh Community Safety Partnership provides Transport Marshalls for our busiest taxi ranks located on Lothian Road, the High Street, and Leith Street, who make sure that passengers are safe while waiting for and upon entering a black cab, on Fridays and Saturdays from 10pm to 4.30am.
“Currently licenced premises are required to perform more checks in terms of collecting more visitor information than ever before.
“I intend to monitor the situation in the City and look to ask questions in Parliament.”
Police Scotland said: “We are aware of posts circulating on social media about spiking incidents involving injections in Scotland.Officers are carrying out enquiries, and a small number of reports from the Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow areas are being investigated.
“These do not appear to be linked.We take all reports seriously and we would encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of spiking in any form to contact Police via 101.”
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.
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.”
