LAYING Don’t give sneak thieves a chance
WITH DIVISIONAL COMMANDER CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT ALAN MURRAY
Here is a cautionary tale about the importance of looking after valuables.
Last week a young man was socialising with a friend in a bar in Renfrewshire when he popped out for a couple of minutes to smoke a cigarette.
Unfortunately, he left his jacket and a rucksack containing valuable electronic equipment within the premises.
On returning a short time later he discovered his belongings missing.
It quickly transpired that an opportunist thief had sneaked into the pub and made of with the victim’s bag.
Luckily, local officers quickly identified the suspect from CCTV footage and promptly applied for a warrant to search his home address.
Due to the quick-thinking officers involved the search was successful and all the stolen items were re-united with their owner.
The person responsible was also arrested and subsequently pled guilty to the offence in court.
This is just a reminder that when you are out for a good time with your friends, others might be out and about for entirely different and less honest reasons.
It is always worthwhile taking a few basic precautions such as keeping any bags with you at all times.
Last Friday, meanwhile, officers from our the local Alcohol and Violence Reduction Unit executed a drugs warrant at an address in Dalskeith Avenue in Paisley.
The subsequent search recovered in excess of 3,000 white tablets.
We suspect the pills to be a dangerous controlled drug known as etizolam, which has been implicated in many of the tragic drugs deaths we have seen in Scotland over recent times.
The problem is that while we can establish exactly what the tablets are by sending them to a laboratory for testing, the people they are being sold to often have no idea what is in the tablets, how strong they are and indeed how dangerous they might be, especially if they are consumed in the wrong quantities.
Regrettably, there are still far too many unscrupulous and selfish individuals in our communities who are happy to put lives at risk as long as they can make a profit.
We are doing all we can to stop this but we do need your help.
If you know of anyone who is up to this sort of thing please let us know.
This can be done anonymously through Crimestoppers.
Finally, I would like to tell you about the Fearless campaign being launched at Linwood High School today.
Fearless is a national charity which could be best described as Crimestoppers for young people.
Officers and partners will be in attendance at the launch to encourage young people to report crime - totally anonymously - as well as giving them an avenue to receive information about any activity they suspect to be criminal.
An example might be that if a young person knows that one of their peers is carrying a knife but is unsure of what action to take, then they can contact Fearless without the fear of stigma or retribution.
This gives young people an opportunity to contribute to safety and wellbeing in the community.
As always, we are really keen to support our partners with any venture which will have a positive effect on our communities and specifically the wellbeing of the young people within them.