Only by working together will we reduce crime - Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton

Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton, Local Area Commander, South West Edinburgh

This is my first Capital Cops article having taken over as the Local Area Commander for the South West of Edinburgh. I’d like to thank my predecessor, Scott Richardson, for his time spent working in the South West and he passes on his thanks to his staff, partners and importantly the local communities who supported him during his time in the area.

I have worked in Edinburgh for a number of years, with a large focus on community policing. My previous role was the city centre Community Inspector and I firmly believe that only by working together and involving communities will we reduce crime and improve people’s quality of life. I have strong personal links to the South West locality and it is a privilege to take up this new role.

Looking back at the policing activity in the area, we have to take cognisance of the fact that we have just come out of facing one of the biggest policing operations in the country around COP 26 along with the the ongoing pandemic and recent increase in Covid cases.

Despite supporting and our commitment to the operation we had detailed plans in place, ensuring we maintained our good level of service to the local communities during this time.

As well as responding to calls we also focused on community issues with our community policing team leading operations and activity to respond to local concerns. Having spoken to my new colleagues I was really impressed with the amount of proactive work they have carried out in the last three months.

We mounted an operation around HMP Edinburgh and through uniformed and plain clothes patrols, working with our partners in the Prison Service recovered drugs, contraband and gathered further intelligence. As a result, a total of £60,000 worth of drug.

We worked with the community in the Broomhouse area around anti -social behaviour involving hate crime. The community team engaged with local residents and obtained a greater understanding of the issues and views. Further work was carried out around support and re-assurance for those affected and officers continued community engagement, attending at the Broomhouse Street event.

In the lead-up to Halloween and Bonfire Night we worked with partners and youth groups with a view to reducing anti-social behaviour. We engaged with the Community Alcohol Partnership and visited licensed premises, reiterating challenge 25 policies. We did see a small amount of anti-social behaviour, but not on the scale experienced in the previous year.

We continue to respond to local concerns around road safety and as well as working with partners we have been carrying out speed checks at various sites around the area.

Now we are in the festive period we have stepped up road checks around the city in conjunction with the national festive road safety campaign.

Thank you and I hope you have a pleasant and safe festive season.

Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton, Local Area Commander, South West Edinburgh