Final Meeting of Tayside Police After Thirty Eight Years Service

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On Monday morning, I attended the last meeting of Tayside Police Board. 

Members of the Board considered a number of reports which detailed the transition from eight regional Police Forces to the new Single Police Force for Scotland that will come into effect on Monday 1st April 2013. While it was clear that the changeover has taken a great deal of planning, other reports dealt with day to day policing which had been effectively continuing in parallel with the preparation for the changeover next week.


For example, the report, TAYSIDE POLICE PERFORMANCE POSITION AT JANUARY 2013, revealed that:

"The force achieved 3 out of 4 of crime reduction targets by January:

• A reduction in violent crime of 22.6% (101 crimes)
• Despite an increase in robbery of 2.0% (2 crimes)
• A reduction in vandalism of 9.8% (342 crimes)

Domestic housebreaking failed to achieve target


Domestic Housebreaking - saw a 15.2% increase from 541 to 623 crimes at the end of January. The end of year target is 700 ..... ."

During their 38 years of operation as a regional police force, I think Tayside Police have effectively protected the combined communities of Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross.

At the end of the morning senior officers and staff and elected members braved the cold wind for a procession down the High Street and ceremony in Tay Street for not only Tayside Police but also Tayside Fire and Rescue, which is also to become a single national service at the same time.

Call for Single Police Force for Scotland HQ to be in Perth or Dundee

On Monday morning I attended a meeting of the Tayside Joint Police Board. This was the last but one meeting of the Board because the Scottish Government has decided to proceed with a single Police force for Scotland from 1st April 2013. On that date, the current eight regional police forces will have their powers transferred to the new national body taking shape.

While the senior management team for Police Scotland have been appointed, one key decision yet to the resolved is the location of the Headquarters.

At our meeting in Perth, it was unanimously agreed that the Convener of the board, should write to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, urging him to select Dundee or Perth as the HQ site for the Single Police Service for Scotland. Apart from both cities offering central locations and good public transport links, it was thought important to reassure the public throughout Scotland that the new Single Police Service for Scotland was not just Strathclyde Police with the rest of the country thrown in. Locating the HQ outside Edinburgh and Glasgow would help convey reassurance on that score.

Tayside Police Keen to Gather Views on its Draft Interim Local Policing Plans for 2013-2014

Tayside Police has today launched a consultation on its draft interim Local Policing Plans for 2013-2014.

The draft interim Local Policing Plans set out the local policing priorities and objectives for the three Local Authority areas across Tayside including Dundee.  These Plans represent a critical part of the local delivery process for the new national Police Service Of Scotland that takes over responsibility for policing from the current  eight police forces (including Tayside Police) on 1st April 2013.  These new local policing plans demonstrate a commitment to local policing within the national planning framework which enables the police to respond effectively to the concerns of local communities as well as meet and tackle nationwide demands.

As part of this consultation, Tayside Police are keen to engage with the public, partners and staff in order to gather their views on the draft Policing Plans, prior to finalisation of the Plans in March this year.  This engagement should help to ensure that what they are proposing will continue to provide communities with a local police service that meets their needs and deals with the issues that are important to them.

Tayside Police, request that individuals and community groups consider the Plan relevant to their Local Authority area and give them your views on our proposals by completing the short questionnaire.  Further details on this consultation and how you can participate are available by clicking on the link below. 

http://www.tayside.police.uk/About-Us/Force-Publications/policing-plan-consultation.htm

Participation in this exercise, however, is entirely optional and you should feel no obligation to take part.  They reassure us that data from this survey is strictly confidential and will only be used for the purposes described above.  You can also be assured that your details will not be passed to any other agency.

Your views are important and will help us shape the future direction of policing in the Tayside area.  If you have any queries regarding this consultation or require further information please contact the Performance and Planning Unit on  (01382) 596712 or 596711. 

Read/Download the DRAFT Dundee Local Policing Plan 2013-2014

Policing Matters - Two Police Committees in One Day

Police Service of
Scotland badge

In April 2013 the national Police Service of Scotland will come into effect. In the meanwhile, there is intense work is going on organizing a smooth transition from Tayside Joint Police Board (incorporating Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross) to the new Scotland wide service. 

In parallel the City Council in Dundee is a Pathfinder working with Tayside Police to develop new reporting procedures and channels of accountability to the City Council for policing in our city. This is to ensure that there is continuing local accountability for policing once the new national force comes into effect next year. 

Yesterday, I attended two meetings about Policing which focused on that twin track agenda of preparing for the end of Tayside Police and the beginning of the Single Police Force for Scotland. 

In the morning I was at Forfar for a meeting of the Tayside Joint Police Board and in the early evening I attended a special meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee in Dundee, where we examined a report from Chief Superintendent Hamish MacPherson about the next steps in developing Councillor engagement in planning and monitoring policing in Dundee.

Both committees received performance reports about crime levels and policing responses. At the Police Board in Forfar, I asked Chief Inspector Justine Curran about about Police Officers having to be removed from front line policing duties to undertake back office activities formerly undertaken by non uniformed Police staff. In the reports we had received it was clear that non uniformed Police staff in Tayside had been reduced by 23% since 2009. I pointed out that my constituents were concerned that a visible Police presence was maintained on the streets. The Chief pointed out that the reduction in non uninformed police staff had been partly achieved by merging three separate administrative teams into one. She did however admit that some back filling had been undertaken by Police Officers being switched to working in the police control centre. Significantly, I also noticed in the reports that a growing proportion of public calls to the 0300 111 2222 non-emergency police number had taken longer to answer than the target time of 40 seconds. This phenomenon of 'backroom bobbies' is a worrying development as is the failure to answer the phone quickly and efficiently.

At the Dundee meeting we had reports about levels of crime and detection rates as recorded in the first half of the 2012/13 year. I asked a question about the future comparative statistics that would be provided in these reports in Dundee. Comparative figures would help us ensure that investment and police performance in our city is up to scratch. I hoped that working within the new national Police Service of Scotland, it would be possible to compare the policing performance in Dundee with other cities in Scotland such as Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as Perth and Kinross and Angus. I was told that this sort of issue was yet to be decided by the emergent Police Service of Scotland but would be borne in mind.

Tayside Police Board Meeting in Forfar Monday 27 August 2012

Yesterday morning I attended my first regular meeting of the Tayside Police Board. I had previously only attended meetings of the Board as a substitute for colleagues. 

A really informative item for me was a briefing from Andrew Laing, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland. He overviewed the role of the Inspectorate which was very helpful to a new member like me. He also reminded Board members of the importance of ensuring that as preparations are made for the introduction of the Single Police for Scotland in April next year, we weren't distracted from ensuring that tangible improvements to fighting crime are maintained. 

We also discussed the Tayside Police Performance Quarter 1 April - June 2012. This report included an analysis of recorded crime which indicated that there had been a significant reduction in violent crime and vandalism compared with earlier quarters. Over the same period there had been an increase in Domestic House Breaking and Break-ins to business premises.

There was also an item taken in private about anonymous allegations which had been sent to some members of the board and local and national newspapers. Our response as a Board to this are covered in an article in the Courier.

Commenting on Tayside Police Diversity Training reported on in Mail on Sunday

As an elected member of Dundee City Council, I am pleased to hear that Tayside Police is undertaking diversity training for its staff. Unlike the reporter from the Mail on Sunday, I think it can be useful to use images and snippets from television in such training to make it relevant to the lives of the course participants. Of the examples, cited, I vividly remember the moment that Susan Boyle first performed on Britain's got Talent in 2009. It's important to take seriously equal opportunities and its too easy to superficially criticize. I'll leave it to my colleagues on the Police Board to look into this and make a judgement about the effectiveness rather than the form of the training.

Future Organisiation of Policing in Scotland - Response from Tayside Joint Police Board

At the continued meeting of the Tayside Police Board on Monday, the SNP group of Councillors had promised to flesh out their arguments for opting for four police boards instead of the current eight. This was an integral part of their proposed response  to the Scottish Government's 'A Consultation on The Future Organisation of Policing in Scotland'. 

Unfortunately, their sketchy proposal attracted most votes. As a consequence the board's response to the Scottish Government will feature a viewpoint that is neither fish nor fowl. This is because a reduction of eight forces to four police forces in Scotland will neither produce the back office savings required to save front line policing nor will its stretched geographical boundaries be capable of keeping the police close to communities and elected members. It was also unfortunate that these Councillors were so lacking in argument and evidence in putting forward their motion. Perhaps this was why they wanted the press and public excluded from the meeting.

Constituents in Dundee should be reassured that the Dundee Labour Councillors on the Joint Police Board will be vigilant in the months ahead when the next Scottish Government legislates for the reorganization of policing in Scotland. We will continue to advocate for a single police force in Scotland in the belief that this will deliver administrative and management savings which will ensure that current levels of front line policing can be left unscathed despite cuts in policing budgets. Furthermore, we believe that local accountability can enhanced by the development of local authority wide so called 'blue light' committees to cover police and fire services.

Youth Projects In Dundee Benefit from Cash Back for Communities

Yesterday morning, I attended the Tayside Joint Police Board deputising for a colleague. At the meeting we heard about Cashback for Communities.

This national initiative recycles cash that is seized from criminals for diversionary work with young people. This means that we are working to ensure that convicted criminals don't profit from their crimes. As a bonus, seized money is redistributed to youth work organisations in our communities.

In the past year, projects in the Dundee area that have benefited from Cash Back for Communities funding have included:

'Bike it' which is an activity where the young people build bikes and get to keep them, run by Dundee community learning department. The BIKE-IT Project is a community based diversionary BMX bike initiative between Dundee City Council and Tayside Police, with funding support from the Community Safety Partnership. BIKE-IT is aimed at young people who have come to the attention of the Police for offending and/or anti-social behaviour in the local neighbourhood.

'Fairbridge' outdoor activities. Fairbridge is a national charity that works with young people aged 13-25, who are not in education, employment or training.

The 'Shore', Dundee. The Shore is a state of the art Young Person's Venue. It is situated right in the heart of Dundee City of Discovery and allows them to take part in Art, Media, Music, Training, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme or just as a Drop-in Centre.

Funding has also been provided to youth groups and uniformed organisations such as the Boys Brigade in Dundee.