New feature focussing on police priorities
This week we’re delighted to bring the first in a series of regular columns from senior Lothian and Scottish Borders police officers.
Every fortnight officers will telling our readers about their priorities in the coming weeks and months and how they will be helping people across West Lothian to feel safe and secure.
This week we kick off with Chief Superintendent Catriona Paton, divisional commander, Lothians and Scottish Borders.
She said: “Perhaps it is the lighter days, the lambing season or the fact I was eating a crème egg while writing this, that I have been thinking about Easter.
Easter signals the coming of spring, which in turn, hopefully brings warmer weather and more sunshine.
“Spring also means new beginnings and rebirth and I use this period of time to reflect on my hopes and aspirations, both personally and professionally.
“In terms of policing, my hope is for West Lothian’s people and places to be safe and for our communities to feel secure.
“I’m committed to listening and understanding the challenges being faced in this community and to using all opportunities and resources available to ensure everyone in West Lothian is heard, supported and has confidence in their police service. I know policing confidence is something that builds and requires ongoing effort to ensure that it can be maintained and developed further.
“I recognise that visibility is a key driver and I want to enable our officers and staff to be more visible. Something, which I believe is not just important, but, in fact, critical.
“That is why I hope our new regular articles in our local newspaper will help introduce you to more of the team here and to explain more clearly the many ways in which they are working whether in response, community or specialist roles. By reading about what they are doing I hope to help bring a degree of additional visibility to policing in West Lothian.
“Policing has continued to change and develop since I joined over 30 years ago, indeed Police Scotland has changed and developed over its eight years of existence, but these changes and developments have been reflective of the dramatic changes to society.
“The needs of people are changing, the way we live our lives is changing, this has been re-enforced, and at times accelerated, during the pandemic.
“Policing needs to be present wherever people interact, where they meet and form relationships, where they live and/or conduct business, where they socialise and this includes the physical and virtual space.
“As such frontline policing extends far beyond the uniformed response and community officers we see doing their job every day in West Lothian, and I do acknowledge you would like to see them more often whenever possible.
“I know seeing an officer can bring much reassurance. But I do hope there is a recognition that even when officers are not routinely seen within communities, it does not mean they are not still very much present within them, actively caring to protect those in need.”