Now police go undercover to tackle menace of...dog mess!

‘Dog-fouling is a scourge’

wHeN most people imagine an undercover police operation, they probably picture large-scale drugs busts or teams infiltrating gangs.

But plans are now unfolding for plainclothes officers to tackle another foul menace... dog dirt.

A trial scheme has been discussed in which police would be dispatched to parks in an effort to catch dog walkers who fail to pick up after their pets.

The tactic was disclosed at a meeting of Paisley North Community Council, in Renfrewshire, this week.

It followed claims by members of the public that the presence of uniformed officers only temporarily stopped the rule-breakers, who face a £80 fine if they are caught.

Community police officer Stephen Reid told the meeting: ‘we are looking into more plain-clothes stuff over the next month, particularly for dog fouling.’

The allocation of time and resources comes despite police figures – released last year – that show violent and sexual crimes in Scotland soared in the previous 12 months, with fewer than half of rapes being solved.

The statistics also show that non-sexual crimes of violence rose 8 per cent, while the number of sex crimes, including rape, surged by 13.3 per cent.

But only 49.8 per cent of rapes were solved, down from 57.5 per cent, and the detection rate for violence also fell, from 78.2 per cent to 72 per cent.

John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘we often hear police budgets are in desperate need of more funding yet we are witnessing a growing trend towards policing spending time and resources on the least serious crimes, like political correctness on the internet and now dog snooping. Taxpayers want their local police to focus their time and energy on tackling serious and violent crimes on the front line.’

However, the community council’s chairman Mike Dillon said that he is fully supportive of any innovative strategy that aims to catch offenders. ‘The problem is that as soon as they see your hi-vis jersey, they are on their best behaviour,’ he told the Paisley Daily express.

‘we know that dog fouling is a risk to children, especially when owners take their dogs into play parks and grassy areas. when you see a hi-vis jacket or uniform you immediately behave and, unfortunately, we can’t have cops in every street.

‘we don’t have enough wardens to do the job either.’

He added: ‘I would support anything that tries to stop all this dog fouling. It’s a scourge on Paisley.’

Paisley North-west councillor Kenny MacLaren agreed that a covert approach is a ‘great idea’.

He said: ‘The law is quite clear about fining people who don’t clean up after their dogs but wardens and police who are in uniforms are seen a mile off.’

It would not be the first time unorthodox methods have been employed by Scottish authorities to tackle the dog fouling problem. In 2012, west Dunbartonshire Council devised a plan to use a spray-gun on dog dirt left behind by anti-social pet owners to colour it bright pink.

This was then left in place for a week in the hope that shamefaced dog walkers would return and belatedly scoop it up.

The measure – which was described as ‘bizarre’ by critics – was later adopted by other authorities, including Renfrewshire Council, which left the dog dirt in place for two days.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: ‘when the officer was asked in the community council meeting he put forward the suggestion.

‘There are no concrete plans just yet.’