Community plays a big role in helping us to fight crime - Kieran Dougal
I wanted to start this column by reflecting on our dedication to addressing local community concerns and demonstrate the importance of engaging with you - our community and partners in North East Edinburgh.
Our officers have been out listening to your views which have influenced our policing operations.
We instigated Operation Equid on the back of community concerns and disorder during the bonfire period and focuses on the Niddrie/Hays area.
Working alongside City of Edinburgh Council, social work, other emergency services, housing providers and others, we launched a Partnership Community Survey and engagement days to gather feedback regarding local views and priorities. The results shall form a community-based plan to support development, safety and wellbeing in the area.
Alongside this we have been engaging with schools and youth providers to support youth provision over the summer and beyond. We will be running the ‘Let’s Row’ campaign again this year, a community project with kids from local high schools in North East Edinburgh. This includes kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding and more, teaching them key life skills and teamwork supported by a range of local partners.
We continue to attend the popular ‘Friday Night Lights’ project in collaboration with SportScotland and YMCA to provide social activities and space for young people aged between 9-18 whilst providing education and improving relationships with police.
Summer@Portobello is a multi-agency operation that was introduced in 2022 in response to community concerns around violence and disorder during the summer period. It is now an annual operation which has resulted in a significant reduction in crime.
It involves education, community engagement, additional patrols and event days to ensure all are able to enjoy areas such as Portobello beach safely and responsibly.
We attended two great events to kick off the summer with the Sea rising festival and Porty Pride where we had police patrols, stalls and bike marking. We also continue to support boot camps with Places for People at Castlebrae and Portobello beach alongside litter pick initiatives with The Ripple Project, Sessions, including discussions surrounding the dangers of alcohol alongside lunch being provided by local businesses.
More around all these events and activities can be found @PSOSNEEdinburgh.
We continue to act on community concerns and target drug offences under Operation Elate, recently seizing over £280,000 of controlled drugs and the recovery of over £100,000 of stolen property. The success of the operation would not have been possible without the engagement of the local community.
Finally I would like to invite people to take part in Your Police Survey. We want to know and understand the views of Scotland’s diverse communities. The survey is open all year and asks about your experiences in your community and of policing. The survey aims to help us understand more about your experiences which we can use, as above, to shape policing in your local area. It’s about all of us working together to improve safety and wellbeing in communities throughout Scotland.
Your Police 2024-25 is now live on our Police Scotland Engagement Hub.
Chief Inspector Kieran Dougal, Local Area Commander, North East Edinburgh