Operation Resolve started in 2009 as a multi agency approach to highlight the dangers surrounding young people and alcohol in Dumfries. Police Officers, working with Community Learning Development Staff Nithsdale, Community Wardens, Integrated Substance Support, Health and Social Services workers targeted a number of areas in Dumfries in an attempt to raise awareness with young people about the dangers of underage drinking. Over the years the operation has been used in other areas across Dumfries and Galloway.
Operation Resolve targets young people who had clearly been drinking or were in possession of alcohol. These young people were transferred to the Oasis Youth Centre in Newell Terrace in the town, where their parents were called to collect them. When the young people were waiting in the Oasis Youth Centre, trained youth work and health staff engaged with them to highlight the dangers of drinking alcohol underage. Staff also gave out information about the wide range of youth work activities available to young people in the Nithsdale area. The operation received widespread publicity and was well received by the majority of parents who were called to collect their children.
Operation Resolve has continued over the years and the most recent operation in Dumfries on Friday 2 October 2015 found six children either under the influence of alcohol or indeed in possession of alcohol. The operation was carried out by police officers checking out the usual haunts and hot spots where the young people gather to drink alcohol, and included the funfair which was taking place on the Whitesands.
Constable Calum Duignan of the Community Policing Unit in Dumfries said “All of the youths caught on the night seemed to engage with the staff at the Oasis Centre and the parents called were understanding and supportive of the operation. The town was particularly busy on Friday night and the fair was clearly an attraction for many young people. This is a successful operation which we will continue to hold as and when we identify the need through local consultation with our communities.”
Senior Community Learning and Development Officer for Nithsdale Mark Molloy said “through Operation Resolve we have had young people brought into the Oasis centre who may not have accessed the centre before. A big part of this operation was about informing young people about youth work activities that they could participate in as an alternative to drinking and the associated antisocial behaviour that goes hand in hand with it.”
