Getting ready for life in city after lockdown - CI Scott Richardson

I am hoping that people are enjoying the easing of Coronavirus restrictions and the wider opportunities this now brings.

Chief Inspector Scott Richardson is area commander for South West Edinburgh

As we move into and through the Protection Levels it is important to remember that rules and legislation will remain in place, so please make yourself aware of, and follow these, to make sure that we continue on our return to normality.

The easing of restrictions has brought new challenges for Edinburgh Division and, South West officers have been busy supporting both divisional and local matters, including the disorder within Meadows and antisocial behaviour and vandalism to buses. I’m proud of the contribution my officers have made in addressing these issues.

Locally as the restrictions have eased, we have been working with partners in areas where we saw issues in previous protection levels. Areas such as the Pentland Hills Regional Park at Balerno and Bonaly. As the levels change and the weather hopefully improves, we will maintain this focus with partners and ask that people use this area responsibly so everyone who wants to enjoy it can.

Focusing specifically within the South West, one positive to come out of the pandemic is the way our communities have pulled together to support those that needed it.

New community groups and channels of engagement were quickly formed and put in place, showing a great spirit and commitment to assisting vulnerable people and those in need. As we move forward, all those involved are keen we don’t lose this momentum and indeed look to build on the work done.

This is with a view to support the Edinburgh Joint Community Safety Strategy and the principles of the Stronger Edinburgh model.

I am taking the opportunity to review and restructure our community and partner engagement. A key priority will be improving engagement with all areas of the community to understand public concerns, build on joint working to focus on emerging issues. One of the benefits of a single force is to be able to call upon specialist resources from across the country to tackle priorities and improve the safety and wellbeing of local communities. I would therefore encourage people to report instances in order we can record these, build a fuller picture and take appropriate action. If we don’t know about it we can’t take appropriate action.

You can raise concerns through contact with your community team email them at [email protected] or through various online reporting mechanism available via https://www.scotland.police.uk/your-community/edinburgh/south-west.

Some of the work currently being undertaken as a result of concerns raised include youth ASB at Sighthill Shopping Centre, Sighthill Park and in the vicinity of Currie Rugby Club. Our community team have been carry out work at both area’s which will be increasing in the coming weeks, with partnership approaches including youth criminal justice and voluntary groups as well as police enforcement activity.

As we all look forward to the summer, this will undoubtedly bring new challenges for many aspects of policing. We recognise that people will be looking to enjoy themselves, what we ask is that you do it in a responsible manner, be considerate to those around and follow the current Scottish Government guidelines and we can have a safe and memorable time for the right reasons.

CI Scott Richardson is South West Local Area Commander