Police Scotland
Argyll and Bute Council · 4 February 2025
Back to Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group — 4 February 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Argyll & West Dunbartonshire Division Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group January 2024 The priorities for your area are decided by data from our strategic assessment which details threats and risks, and also from feedback from local authorities, partners, and residents in the Local Policing Survey. The priorities are: • Serious and organised crime • Crimes of theft and dishonesty (acquisitive crime) • Road safety and road crime • Violent crime • Public protection. Serious & Organised Crime Officers continue to deter, disrupt and take positive action in the detection of those involved in the sale and supply of controlled drugs in the area. Community information is key for us and may just provide us with the last piece of evidence required to apply to the courts for a warrant. We encourage our communities to share concerns and suspicions around drug dealing either by calling 101 or by reporting anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their website and online form (https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give- information/forms/pre-form). Acquisitive Crime Across Cowal and Bute shoplifting offences have seen an increase. This is however in line with a rise in this crime type across the West of Scotland. COWAL, BUTE & HELENSBURGH PRIORITIES 2023-2026
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS A number of these crimes have been attributed to a travelling group of young persons who have been targeting many supermarkets across the West. We are working closely with our analysts, British Transport Police and other policing divisions to share information and evidence to identify those responsible. Our preventions team, youth engagement officer and local policing teams are all supporting local supermarkets and businesses within the local community and are available to visit to provide crime prevention advice should it be requested. We remain determined to reduce the impact of acquisitive crime locally and we will continue to thoroughly investigate all reports. Road Safety and Road Crime Speeding and driving complaints remain prevalent within Cowal and Bute. Driver behaviour and the impact this has on our community remains a focus for local policing. Local officers have been on joint patrols with officers from the traffic division to upskill and to cascade learning to others. We continue to support community concerns in this area through direct action and prevention and intervention work. Proactive speed checks have been carried out across the area. Between 1/11/2022 and the week commencing 20/01/2025, 33 drivers have been issued with fines or reported with speeding offences. In the same period our national festive drink driving campaign was running which resulted in 10 drivers being stopped who were found to be unfit to drive. We continue to respond to feedback, and concerns raised from our Community Councils and regularly task local officers with proactive speed checks across Cowal and Bute. Our Preventions Team are proactive on our social media streams to make sure that we are fully engaging with our communities to maximise our footprint by providing advice and guidance to influence road users. The Preventions Team are planning a number of road safety roadshows in the coming months which were well received in 2024, the first will take place at Dunoon Community Fire Station on Saturday 1st February. Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and Violent Crime Over the course of the festive period, we provided high visibility patrols throughout our villages and towns. We supported Christmas fayres and community events during the day and at night we supported our night-time economy. Our officers carried out over 40 visits to licensed premises across Cowal & Bute during December which helped reduce alcohol related antisocial behaviour and violence. The number of recorded serious assaults have reduced based on the same time scales last year. We have seen a rise in common assaults across the area particularly against emergency service personnel where we have recoded an increase of 70%.
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Attacks on emergency services personnel are unacceptable but we continue to work with staff to ensure they have sufficient training and support to make sure they are serving the community with confidence and the appropriate skills. At a national level, Police Scotland also continues to work with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) regarding the increasing number of police assaults and how these are being progressed in the Criminal Justice system. Public Protection We continue to support individuals through a victim centred approach. Our officers receive regular training and guidance to ensure that we are supporting those affected with a professionalism and empathy. We have an effective governance structure in place to ensure all reports are scrutinised. This ensures all investigative opportunities are considered by the enquiry officers before any report can be filed. We continue to robustly manage those domestic offenders released on Bail to ensure they are adhering to restrictions placed on them by the courts. We also have a range of prevention work ongoing which targets a wide age range of individuals from school pupils to the professional. One such initiative involves taxi drivers and providing them with training on how to report concerns or deal with an incident taking place in front of them. Local Policing News Community engagement remains a priority for our local policing teams, with a number of recent visits taking place to local nurseries with a focus on various topics including road safety for children and highlighting those that can help them in society. In Dunoon, our Youth Engagement Officer (YEO), PC Rachael Wells, continues to drive forward an extensive programme of work with young people in our community. Within schools there has been a focus on online safety and ensuring that young people remain aware of the dangers of the virtual world. This work has also involved helping to set up Social 22, Dunoon’s new youth club. Looking Forward We are in the process of welcoming officers in both Dunoon and the Isle of Bute. These officers will bolster our existing officer numbers and help to provide more resilience and support to our communities. There is going to be renewed focus on driver behaviour and safety, particularly aimed at new and young drivers.
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OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Please note that all data included in this report are management information and not official statistics. All data are sourced from Police Scotland internal systems and are correct as of date of publication. Unless stated otherwise numerical comparisons are against the previous year to date and the previous five-year average for the same data period specified. OFFICIAL: POLICE AND PARTNERS Looking further ahead into summer, we are forward planning on issues such as: • Seasonal ASB • Road Safety • Water Safety Useful Links/Contacts • Argyll and Bute Communtiy Directory - https://abcd.scot/ including warm spaces information • Crimestoppers – Crimestoppers in Scotland | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org) 0800 555 111 • Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime – www.scottishparc.co.uk • Women’s Aid - Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk) • Citizens Advice – 0808 164 6000 • Argyll and Bute Council Trading Standards – 01546 605 519 • Argyll and Bute Council – https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/my-council/how-contact-us • Transport Scotland – road related incidents and road closures - https://www.traffic.gov.scot/traffic-information/incidents • Scottish Water - https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Contact-Us 0800 0778 778 • NHS24 (including mental health support) – 111 or https://www.nhsinform.scot/ Follow us on Social Media and help share loacl appeals and education messages • Facebook - Police Scotland Argyll and West Dunbartonshire • X (formerly Twitter) – PSOSArgyllBute and PSOS ArgWestDunb Sign up to Neighbourhood Watch to receive local alerts and bulletins for your community area - https://neighbourhoodwatchscotland.co.uk/#0 Have your say on your local policing priorities - https://consult.scotland.police.uk/strategy-insight- and-innovation/your-police-2023-2024/