Domestic abuse won’t be tolerated

With only a few more days to go, Christmas has once again sneaked up on everyone.

I’m sure most of you are looking forward to celebrations, socialising with friends and relatives.

Sadly, at this time of year statistics show this increased excitement is paralleled with increased instances of domestic abuse. There is one incident every nine minutes – around a 25 per cent increase.

Police Scotland’s position here could not be any clearer – domestic abuse will not be tolerated.

The message to those who commit abuse against their partner (or expartner) is that we will find out, and there will be consequences.

We will explore every avenue available to bring those responsible to justice and provide support to victims, to support the #every9minutes campaign.

My staff are regularly called to domestic-related incidents, providing us with the experience to deliver the best possible service to those who need us. If you know of anyone suffering this type of abuse, contact us.

We don’t work alone, and have many partner agencies that offer help and support to the victims.

For those who do suffer domestic abuse, please know that help is available by calling 101 or, in an emergency, 999.

Police Scotland takes violence of any description seriously, and will work tirelessly to reinforce our ethos of keeping people safe.

Cold temperatures over the last week or so made for difficult driving conditions, and calls to the police have risen. Road safety is a priority for Police Scotland, and speeding motorists are a concern all year round, but when there are weather warnings for ice, and gritters on the road, and many more hours of darkness, excessive speed becomes even more dangerous.

I’d encourage everyone to moderate their speed to suit the driving conditions and remember the speed limits are maximums not minimums.

Depending on the conditions, even when within the speed limit, driving at speeds not suitable for the conditions can still constitute careless driving.

In response to community concerns via elected representatives in recent weeks, our community officers have targeted speeding issues in the following locations; Limekilnburn Road; Quarter; Strathaven Road; Stonehouse; the villages of Netherburn, Auchinheath, Douglas; and Muir Street in Hamilton.

Road policing officers also target speeding and issue tickets daily, but we cannot solve this issue on our own.

We work in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council and identify roads where speeding and driver behaviour is problematic and consider the road layout, signage and other speed reduction measures.

We also have officers trained to provide input to new drivers, to try to deter speeding at the earliest stage.

It is in everyone’s interest that we strive to make our local road network safer, and less congested, for all road users.

Habitual speeding motorists can be reported to the police via ‘101’ or anonymously to Crimestoppers.