Beat on race day
Town is mobbed as Gold Cup fans have one big party
had an extra sensory awareness I clearly lacked. Accustomed to spotting anything suspect, the duo clocked that an innocent punter ( in my estimation) was actually a street drinker hiding a pint. Time to confiscate the glass.
The first arrest of the night came at 8pm on the High Street outside Boots. CCTV picked up a man swigging from a hip flask while opening the passenger door of his flash Jaguar.
He had not committed any offence. But PCs Dunlop and Lawrie had received earlier intelligence that he reeked of marijuana.
A search of his pockets revealed a banned lock- knife. He insisted: “I need that for my work.”
A Maltesers box sitting on his motor’s leather seats contained suspected herbal cannabis. He was cuffed and led away.
Next up, a smartly dressed man was snared relieving himself in Burns Statue Square. Whacked with a £ 40 fine, he looked embarrassed that he had been caught short – by officers.
Throughout the town, cops were patrolling the streets on foot and in vans. Teams from Glasgow were stationed in Ayr to crack down on any potential disorder.
As we continued to roam the streets, calls kept coming through about missing teens and vulnerable children. The officers searched Tesco for a missing girl with no luck.
But across the road the duo clocked half a dozen kids heading down Whitletts Road towards the town centre. When PC Dunlop rapidly pulled over to the right, a tiny boy ran off at speed.
One of the teenagers volunteered to the officers that he was heading into town to ‘ look for a lassie’.
Bottles of Buckfast and cider were handed over. PC Dunlop said: “They are all under 18, the alcohol will be destroyed.”
After we drove away from the disappointed youngsters, reports of a “vulnerable female” in Alloway Street came through on the radio.
Within minutes, PC Lawrie found her cradled in a doorway close to Arran Mall at the top of the High Street. “What is your name?,” he asked. She stared back blankly and didn’t answer. However, she insisted she had not been drinking or taken drugs. She was unable to stand and didn’t seem to understand a word. The officers called an ambulance so she could be treated by paramedics.
PC Dunlop said: “I’m not happy leaving her here. We need to make sure she is safe. She couldn’t give us a friend or relative’s name to take care of her.”
As the doors closed on the ambulance door, it was nearly the end of the shift for the Post.
PC Dunlop said: “From a policing point of view, it was a really good night. Everyone was in great spirits.
“We had plenty of additional police resources, which helped. There was a really good atmosphere in Prestwick and Ayr.”
But as we clocked off at 1.30am the radio continued blasting out calls. And it was absolutely clear – the beat never stops.