To coincide with the start of the school summer holidays, a joint initiative involving Police Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Youth Work, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Local Authority’s Community Safety Officers and the Local Authority Licensing Department has been developed, and will commence on Friday 28 June 2019.
Over the Easter holidays police in Dumfries noticed an increase in instances of anti-social behaviour within communities across the town, within parks and open spaces. Subsequent reports to police suggested an increase in the gathering of large groups of youths, the consumption of alcohol and associated anti-social behaviour and public nuisance type crimes.
As a result over the summer months these agencies will be working together to look at ways of reducing Anti-Social Behaviour and increasing engagement with young people, while offering signposting to diversionary activities, to ensure our communal areas can be equally enjoyed by everybody. This initiative will see agencies out and about on joint patrols or attending events across the wider Dumfries area.
Additionally, Dumfries and Galloway Youth Work offer a number of summer activities for all youngsters throughout the Dumfries and Galloway area.
Inspector Anna Boyd at Dumfries said “officers are keen to engage with young people in the local area and work with our partners to tackle any ongoing concerns the public may have. Our Community Policing Team will be focusing on intelligence led patrols and we will be proactive in tackling head on any anti-social behaviour. Our strong partnerships in Dumfries with other agencies allows us to co-ordinate our resources to best deal with emerging concerns.”
Station Manager Ian Anderson of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said “Through joint initiatives such as this one, our aim is to reduce the numbers of deliberate fires, false alarms and alarm actuations through education and engagement with our local communities. I would encourage the public to speak to our officers when they are out in the community or at any of the forthcoming events.”
Council Leader Elaine Murray said “I have received reports of several instances of underage drinking, littering and vandalism at weekends in an area of my own ward. I was very concerned, not simply because of the antisocial behaviour involved but of safety risks to the young people. I sought advice from Youth Work, the police and the Community Safety Team and am delighted that they are all working together to develop programmes offering alternative diversionary activity for our young people.”
