2025 shapes up to be busy year with major events coming to city

The decision to cancel the Hogmanay Street Party was undoubtedly the right decision given the prevailing weather conditions, says Chief Superintendent David Robertson

It has been another busy year for the division and the past 12 months have seen us work with a range of key partners across the city to keep people safe. At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to addressing the priorities you help us identify through engagement across multiple forums, including community council meetings, attendance at police surgeries and by participating in our Your Police Survey. I am eternally grateful for the engagement and support we receive from our fellow citizens as we strive to deliver a service which tackles the issues that affect you the most, whilst tirelessly working to maintain your trust and confidence in doing so.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken the time to engage with us and make your voice heard. These interactions play a vital role in helping shape our policing model and allow us to gather vital information on the types of issues affecting specific areas of the city, meaning we can deliver a tailored response that most appropriately responds to the specific needs. Over the course of the year we delivered a substantial number of local initiatives to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour across all of our localities.

We have invested considerable resources along with partners in North West and North East Edinburgh to, disrupt, deter and divert individuals from antisocial behaviour and serious criminality. In the South West we have delivered additional proactive patrols to target violence and there has been a significant focus around the Old Town to tackle antisocial behaviour, whilst supporting those with multiple complex needs.

We have responded to a substantial number of protests throughout the year and worked with partners to safely deliver some of the countries largest events, including Scotland’s largest ever concert in the summer when the city proudly hosted Taylor Swift.

We have focussed additional resources towards tackling serious organised crime, violence and theft and we are trying to share as much information as possible about our activities and initiatives as well as handy crime prevention advice across our social media channels. I was extremely disappointed by the truly deplorable behaviour by a minority of individuals on Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night. Our communities, our police officers and our bus drivers were targeted and it must stop. We have already commenced our planning for next year and our post incident investigation has seen a significant number of offenders arrested.

To date, 32 people have been charged with almost 80 offences and inquiries to identify everyone responsible are ongoing. If you wish to provide any video or photographic evidence, you can still do so via our Major Incident Public Portal.

This year is already shaping up to be a busy year for us with even more major events coming to the city. Looking ahead, our focus will be on delivering the best possible service, with increased visibility and a focus on community policing.

As I write this column, I would normally be getting my boots on to head out for the final multi-agency walkarounds ahead of the Hogmanay Street party. Whilst I am desperately sad for all those who had been looking forward to the event as well as those working tirelessly for months planning everything in detail, the decision to cancel the event was undoubtedly the right decision given the prevailing weather conditions.

Lastly, on behalf of everyone here in Edinburgh Division, I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Chief Superintendent David Robertson is Divisional Commander for Edinburgh