Crackdown by police nets drugs and halts violence

SENIOR POLICE in Fife have hailed the success of their Campaign Against Violence initiative last Friday.

The operation saw 85 officers carry out a number of activities to prevent crime and detect offenders.

Superintendent Dougie Milton, the officer in charge of the initiative, said: “Police attendance at meetings across Fife has identified a number of shared community concerns, in particular those relating to drug and alcohol misuse, crimes of dishonesty and those relating to antisocial behaviour.”

“Fife officers carried out a range of activity across the region, specifically targeted at people suspected of carrying offensive weapons or engaging in drug and alcohol misuse.

“In total, we carried out 50 searches, with 18 of these resulting in the seizure of drugs or alcohol.

“There were also eight fixed penalty tickets issued for a variety of offences, including drinking alcohol in the street, behaving in an antisocial manner and urinating in public.

“We ensure people who have previously been detected for offences are complying with their bail conditions and these checks resulted in two violent offenders being apprehended for breaching bail conditions, both of whom had a long history of offending.

“As road safety was an issue raised by most of our communities in Fife, officers also carried out a number of vehicle stop points and speed checks during the evening.

“As a result, a number of drivers were detected for various offences, seven of whom were issued with fixed penalty tickets.

“The offences detected included driving without insurance, excise offences and driving without a valid MOT.

“Keeping people safe takes a variety of guises and during their patrols, officers also obtained intelligence which will lead to further police action in the near future.”