Police Scotland Update
Argyll and Bute Council · 15 August 2023
Back to Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group — 15 August 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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POLICE SCOTLAND UPDATE Partners Intelligence Portal Police Scotland is committed to Keeping People Safe. Our priority is on the protection of those at risk of harm through prevention, early intervention and the robust investigation of those who pose such a risk. We are committed to working with our Partners in the public, private and third sectors to ensure our approach to Public Protection is focused, meaningful and collaborative. This commitment allows us to continually improve the service and support provided to victims and their families, whilst working towards protecting those at risk of harm. Crimes such as child sexual abuse, human trafficking, sexual offences or domestic offences are often concealed from authorities, and may have occurred recently or in the past, all of which contributes to challenging, complex and sensitive enquiries. It may be that our partners have information which could be vital in contributing to a bigger picture. As part of our commitment and drive to improve, we are expanding the use of the Partners Intelligence Portal (PIP) through awareness and training to relevant organisations. PIP is a secure and confidential electronic system, developed by the Police Service to enable partner agencies to share important information they receive during the course of their work. This portal provides capable partners with the means to securely and discreetly submit key information, whilst maintaining safeguards which protect the source of the information. PIP is an information collection portal, and does not replace current incident or crime reporting methods, in particular the mechanism for child or adult referral. PIP is a tool which should enhance the procedures already in place for all. The information provided through the PIP portal will be dealt with as intelligence by Police Scotland. Intelligence is the useable form of information which has been subject to recognised processes to risk assess and determine how freely it can be used. This process is aimed at developing information around the threat, risk and harm posed by perpetrators and locations. By trying to capture what you already see, hear and know it will provide invaluable opportunities to target those who pose risk and protect those at risk of harm. The key aim is to provide a safe and secure pathway for Partner Agencies to share information that they believe the police need to know about in the investigation and prevention of crime. This training has been delivered to a number of housing associations in Bute and Cowal and we will continue to roll this out wider. If you require any further information please contact ArgyllDumbartonshireCommunityEngagementTeam@scotland.police.uk Emergency Services Day An emergency services day was held on Saturday 17th June at Dunoon Grammar School where a range of partners came together and invited along the community to meet their local service providers and enjoy the day. Police Scotland Community Engagement Team and the mounted branch attended along with partners in Ministry of Defense Dog Branch who provided displays to demonstrate their training and abilities. HM Coastguard demonstrated their life savings skills and Scottish Fire and Rescue hosted a range of displays including chip pan fires and how to prevent these. The day was well attended with local businesses providing refreshments as well.
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Youth Engagement Citizenship Day took place at Dunoon Grammar School which involved two days of water safety inputs including a live exercise. The Partnership Approach to Water Safety (PAWS) Group were consulted to ensure consistency of messaging. Agencies in attendance throughout the two days included Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, RNLI & HM Coastguard. There is an appetite to conduct further joint working in the future in order to continually improve local working partnerships. The event was well publicised in local media outlets as well as social media. The newly established Dunoon Police Scotland Youth Volunteer Group deployed at Sandbank Gala. This was the Dunoon groups first deployment which was extremely positive and enjoyed by all. Positive interactions with members of the public and other emergency services personnel. Confidence already being gained by the young people, a proportion of whom are from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds. Further deployments included the Emergency Services Day at Dunoon Grammar School and the 2 day deployment at the Argyll Rally. Feedback from organisers and rally teams has been extremely positive. Mull Car Club are in the process of preparing certificates for presenting to Youth Volunteers in attendance in recognition of their involvement. Our Youth Engagement Officer has attended Kirn Primary, Dunoon Primary and Lochgoilhead Primary Schools where inputs have been provided to senior pupils in respect of drug/alcohol/vape use. Inputs have been provided to pupils from Tighnabruaich Primary School on road safety and particularly around the use of e-scooters by children in the community. This was in response to complaints from members of the public in recent times. Move In May Congratulations to the over 2,000 Police Scotland staff who competed in this year’s challenge by running, cycling, participating in Copstrong classes, and more! Unfortunately Argyll and West Dunbartonshire’s Divisional elite athletes didn’t quite make the top 10, however congratulations to 3 local teams who took home the local Gold, Silver and Bronze awards and earned themselves a gift card for their efforts. Progress Pride flag completes its journey around Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Division for Pride Month
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The Progress Pride flag has reached the end of its journey around Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Division, with Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff being the final person to add their signature as an ally to mark Pride Month. The flag made its way around all of the offices in the division throughout June to allow all colleagues the opportunity to become allies if they wish to do so by signing the flag thereby helping to drive change by challenging negative attitudes and outdated stereotypes. It started its tour of the area on 1st June when our Equality, Diversion and Inclusion lead CI Ryan McMurdo became the first signatory to pledge his allyship. Pride Month is an annual celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) pride. It began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread outside of the United States and around the world. The modern-day Pride Month both honours the movement for LGBT rights and celebrates LGBT culture. It is also a great opportunity for us all to show our support for LGBT+ officers, staff and communities and to challenge LGBT+ discrimination internally and externally. One of the themes of this year’s Pride Month is allyship. An LGBT ally is any police officer, member of staff or special constable who advocates for and champions LGBT+ colleagues in the workplace. Anyone can become an ally, whether you are part of the LGBT+ community or not. A recent Scottish Government report found that one in four hate crimes in 2020-21 involved a victim who was a police officer and in almost half of crimes experienced by police officers, the perpetrator showed a prejudice towards the LGBT+ community. It’s important we don’t underestimate the impact this has on our LGBT+ colleagues. Chief Supt. Ratcliff said: “My vision is for L Division to be the most inclusive area in Police Scotland, where our officers and staff feel a true sense of belonging and our communities feel supported, listened to and have total confidence in the service we deliver for them. It has never been more important for us to demonstrate our support for LGBT+ officers, staff and communities and I am proud to add my signature to the flag as a visibly ally.”
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Keep Safe in Bute and Cowal A further Keep Safe business has been trained up in Bute and Cowal. Fyne Homes join our list of amazing community businesses and organisations who commit to supporting vulnerable people through the award winning Keep Safe Initiative. Interested businesses or groups have background checks carried out to ensure they are suitable and then have face to face training to learn about Keep Safe. From there they are issued with business packs including a window sticker to proudly display to let anyone passing know they are a Keep Safe place. If you are interesting in learning more please visit https://www.scotland.police.uk/advice-and-information/keep-safe-scheme/