Priorities For Policing In Shetland

[molex13]

Chief Inspector,

 

As a parent, I am concerned about how much training and knowledge your officers (indeed the Police in general) have on cyber-bullying, online grooming etc, and how Police Scotland, perhaps with the help of other agencies, education etc, hopes to tackle this worrying new fast moving problem. 

 

Kind regards. 

[JustMe]

I think that Police Scotland needs to pay some attention to the length of time roads in Shetland can be closed following a serious accident.  Diversions when available are usually on back roads not suitable for the volume of traffic a diversion can bring and of course there are sections of our main roads where there is no diversion.

 

Yes of course the road may need to be closed while the dead or injured are recovered from their vehicles and wreckage cleared but surely there ought to be a way for local officers to do crash investigation work perhaps using some sort of video link to colleagues on the mainland rather than waiting (perhaps overnight) for officers to come from the mainland.

[shetlandpeat]

It is quite involved JustMe. When on call outs I have sat for 3-5 hours waiting for investigations to happen. The officer who does it is very skilled, they use a very acurate GPS system. Though, there is a way of speeding it up, some motorway officers have a new device that can scan the area quite well an can knock an hour off the time. I do think there should be a dedicated office trained and on the islands.

Edited September 26, 2013 by shetlandpeat

[Fjool]

I personally feel that as we are led to believe they are an effective tool in the fight agains crime in Shetland then they should be funded solely with money from the police budget, we all pay taxes and a percentage of that money is put towards paying for the provision of our local police force, we shouldn't have to pay extra through charities and the like to provide extra tools to the police.

 

I disagree. This way is more democratic. You don't have to pay unless you do consider it good value.

[unlinkedstudent]

 

I personally feel that as we are led to believe they are an effective tool in the fight agains crime in Shetland then they should be funded solely with money from the police budget, we all pay taxes and a percentage of that money is put towards paying for the provision of our local police force, we shouldn't have to pay extra through charities and the like to provide extra tools to the police.

 

I disagree. This way is more democratic. You don't have to pay unless you do consider it good value.

 

 

But we're already paying for a police service, aren't we?  If we adopt that principle then that's on par with saying we only pay for certain services carried out by the Police and if they don't have the money, we don't get that particular service.  The same applies to the NHS; look how that's going with more and more being paid for through charities when we already pay for it.

 

To hell with it then, let's have anarchy!

[orcainn]

Policing is just one issue with the drugs and alcohol situation in Shetland and I just wanted to remind everyone about the work that the Community Alcohol and Drugs Service Shetland (CADSS) does.  They work with those with drugs and alcohol issues and also the families affected by this.  In addition the young person's worker provides education in schools and visits schools and youth clubs providing support for young people who have their own problems with alcohol or drugs and are dealing with a family members use.  They provide an amazing service and if you want advice for yourself or someone else or if you want training for your organisation you can drop in and see a duty worker or call them on 695363.

 

If you want to know more about what they do then they have a good website with help and information http://www.cadss.shetland.co.uk/

 

Jane

[unlinkedstudent]

Chief Inspector,

 

As a parent, I am concerned about how much training and knowledge your officers (indeed the Police in general) have on cyber-bullying, online grooming etc, and how Police Scotland, perhaps with the help of other agencies, education etc, hopes to tackle this worrying new fast moving problem. 

 

Kind regards. 

 

Do we really need the Police to teach parents how to operate the 'off' button on a PC?

[Clooty Cap]

 

I personally feel that as we are led to believe they are an effective tool in the fight agains crime in Shetland then they should be funded solely with money from the police budget, we all pay taxes and a percentage of that money is put towards paying for the provision of our local police force, we shouldn't have to pay extra through charities and the like to provide extra tools to the police.

 

 

I disagree. This way is more democratic. You don't have to pay unless you do consider it good value.

I agree to a certain extent with what you say but there are plenty of people who don't question if it's good value, they base their decision to donate money on an understanding that it's necessary for them to continue funding the dogs if they are to continue operating in Shetland.

[shetlandpeat]

There are a number of charities the Police work with on crime and prevention of crime, the RSPCA and the RSPB are a couple, another is HOPE who work with folk who have been smuggled into the country and sold for other activities. Without these and other charities, the Police would not be able to do their job as we would expect them. There are also hundreds of charities that work with the Police on other matters. Without them, how much would the Police cost to cover these areas?

[Ghostrider]

I appreciate that you mention two motoing cases, but as I said I'm not aware of the two you're commenting on.

 

http://www.shetlink.com/index.php?/topic/4474-wheres-the-due-process-banned-fisherman-told-to-buy-a-bike/

 

This is a link to the "debate" generated on this site at the time one of the incidents I'm thinking of was heard in Court, unfortunately the original Shetland News media report is no longer available, due to a change in ownership of various aspects of the site since the story was published.

 

From memory (and I stand corrected on this), the case involved an evening RTA where the Police were only able to ID and make contact the driver well in to the next day. Obviously after such a lapse of time, no measurement could be taken to state with any accuracy what alcohol may or may not have been involved at the time of the incident, and there was no mention in the report of witnesses who could state the accused had been drinking before the fact. Yet, it was reported that in court it had been stated there was "suspicion of drinking.", and the sentence passed did appear to be at least somewhat influenced by that "suspicion" having been voiced.

 

As I believe I said (or words to that effect) in my post at the time on the linked thread, this could well be nothing more than a case of sloppy reporting on the part of the media involved. However, bearing in mind that one of the points you stated in your OP as a current priority is to "Increase Public Confidence" in the Police, I think its a salient point that, regardless of anything else, media reports are the main source of information for the general public regarding the Police. So when faced with one such report, that on the face of it seems to state "information" which could only have originated with the Police, has ended being submitted to the Court without either physical evidence or witness testimony to support it, and the outcome of the case would appear to have been affected by the introduction of that "information", a red flag is not unsurprising, and consequentially public confidence in the Police takes a corresponding dive as a result.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Ghostrider

[Ironwithin]

Dogs against drugs was started with good intentions and seemed like a good idea at the time but like many good intentions it had an unforseen negative that is unpaltitable for people to admit in that it clamped down on easier to detect safer soft drugs such as cannabis making them harder to obtain which led to an increase in harder to detect, more profitable drugs such as heroin. I bet if you had a graph showing when the dogs were introduced and the use in certain drugs this would show it to be true, it had a knock on effect of making more people take harder drugs as the normal soft drugs were not available. It would be better if the money just went to the police for other activities instead of to this. Most busts are due to intelligence and the dogs only help to make it slightly easier or to be a deterant, they are not cost effective.

[Ghostrider]

Without them, how much would the Police cost to cover these areas?

 

If the Police weren't so heavily burdened with trying to enforce IMHO un-necessary (unjustifiable/illegal?) and pointless/ineffectual laws and could concentrate on the rest which do maybe protect folk's right and make for a better quality of life, their current budget would cover it with ease.

[shetlandpeat]

Can you provide figures to say they can? It could be interesting and useful for future reference.

[Ghostrider]

^ Us mere (im)mortals aren't privy to such sensitive financial information as would be necessary to compile meaningfully accurate costs, especially as some are variables. However, if for starters you repeal the crash helmet and seatbelt laws, legalise, regulate and charge duty/taxes on the popular and easily obtainable mind bending substances of choice for starters, it would cover the cost of quite a lot.

 

Tell you what, you provide accurate figures for how much the likes of the RSPCA (more of a "pressure group" than a "hand-on" charity these days I'm sorry to see), the RSPB and the "hundreds of other charities" "save" the Police in costs in enforcing statutory legislation, and I'll work on how much it costs to enforce crash helmet, seatbelt, substance prohibition etc statutory legislation.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Ghostrider

[Rachel B]

I would also like to see police dealing with adult cyclists who insist on using the pavements. Several times I've been bumped into, and left with a bruise. This seems to happen a lot in the area around the North Road, and the roundabout at the north end of Lochside. Likewise I would also like people to be reminded to keep their dogs on leads. There are a couple of people in my area that walk "staffy-type" dogs without any leash. Apart from that maybe some officers could be a little less overbearing in their dealings with members of the public - they can be quite intimidating at times!