Lack of confidence over action being taken
Police are asking the public to have confidence in them by reporting community concerns to their officers and other agencies.
Councillors at Stirling Council’s public safety committee last Thursday told police representatives some residents were still wary about coming forward, or lacked faith that the police would act on their concerns.
Tory councillor Neil Benny said that while going round doors in Cultenhove some residents had mentioned concerns to him about local drug dealing but when he asked if they had contacted the police had been told “there’s no point reporting it to the police, they won’t do anything”.
“We are talking low numbers here - probably four or five people with a very genuine fear of drugs in the community, but some have genuine scepticism. People having confidence to report things is important.
“When people come to elected members it is in effect because they feel the system has not worked for them.”
Committee chair Maureen Bennison said: “Particularly when the address involved is a council property, neighbouring properties sometimes feel the council and police aren’t acting so we have to build people’s confidence that they can report it.”
Councillors were told of Operation Unity, launched in St Ninians, which saw community police officers and partners set up a mobile police office in the centre of the community, basing themselves there while conducting door to door canvassing with questionnaires.
The questionnaires were designed to “delve into the issues plaguing the community and identify the root causes”.
Information packs were also given to residents.
Final results are still being collated by Stirling Council analysts to identify priorities in the area but the operation was described by police as “hugely successful” in terms of engagement from the community “at a significantly higher than usual level”.
Chief Inspector Gill Boulton said: “We are really keen to deliver that into communities wherever it is felt needed so if any elected members feel we could run something in particular areas please get in touch.”
She added: “We have a fairly robust procedure around identifying trends and hotspots in terms of picking up key addresses that come up two or three times. We have a meeting once a month and meet with partners from across the authority to tackle that and are in touch regularly with the offices of the MSP and MP .
“It is very rare that an address comes through by a query from an elected member that has not already been identified.
“Some people are a bit worried about dialling 101 and police coming to their door. There is also sometimes confusion over who is the most important contact. If it is littering or gardens being neglected for example it may be the council rather than police they need to contact.
“Strengthening relationships with people is important. If people don’t report it I have nothing to base that on.”