Bonfire Night gives Capital police a tough challenge - Paul Gillespie

​Having started in Edinburgh Division in September as Local Area Commander for South West Edinburgh, I am delighted to introduce myself through Capital Cops.

Chief Inspector Paul Gillespie, new Local Area Commander for South West Edinburgh

​I would like to thank my predecessor, Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton, for his efforts in the South West and wish him well in his new role in the South East of Edinburgh.

We experienced a challenging Bonfire Night in Edinburgh, which was widely publicised. Along with our partners, we had a robust policing and public safety response in place. Unfortunately, our communities were impacted by the disgraceful behaviour of a minority of individuals.

The disorder saw four officers injured in Edinburgh and damage sustained to some of our police vehicles, which takes them out of service until they can be fixed.

Police faced violent aggression in Niddrie on Bonfire Night

While the majority of the serious incidents did not occur within the South West, this is a matter that affects the entire city and a major investigation is ongoing to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

If you believe you have any information please contact us via 101, or make an anonymous report to the charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.

I have been enthused by the dedication and commitment of the officers across Edinburgh and have witnessed first-hand the high quality of policing, across all of our departments, delivered to our people, places and communities.

My priorities for the South West are to focus on addressing violence, reducing drug harm and tackling supply, tackling housebreaking and crimes of dishonesty, dealing with disorder and antisocial behaviour, and making our roads safer.

As always, the public have a vital role to play in helping us reduce crime by ensuring they take all the necessary steps to safeguard their homes, possessions and, of course, themselves. We have a range of really useful crime prevention and personal safety information available on our website at www.scotland.police.police.uk.

As always, we want to hear from our communities to help us shape the policing priorities for the South West and to understand how we are performing or if there are any areas for improvement the public wish to suggest. The Police Scotland Your Police survey is also available on our website.

The festive period is almost upon us, which will bring a number of events to the city. Operation Winter City is our policing response to ensure everyone can enjoy them safely. Please enjoy responsibly and say hi when you see our officers

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable festive period. Please follow us on Twitter @EdinPolSW where you can keep up to date with what the policing team are doing in South West Edinburgh.