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Sent: Wednesday, 5 Feb, 2020 At 13:26
Subject: Police Scotland have invited all councillors to comment on their draft Local Policing Plan 2020-2023
Hi Stewart
Police Scotland have invited all councillors to comment on their draft Local Policing Plan 2020-2023.
Would appreciate if you can give your views/comments on the Police Scotland draft Local Policing Plan 2020-2023 and its effect on your Ward 4 constituency.
Would also appreciate if you can give details of what consultations you have had with your constituents and what feedback has been received.
I attach Cllr David MacDonald's views/comments/feedback below.
(they don't necessarily reflect my own views/comments)
Your help is much appreciated.
Thanks
Cllr David MacDonald has posted on his facebook page -
04/02/2020
Cllr David Macdonald - An Independent voice for people is at Duff Memorial Hall.
3 hrs · Glasgow ·
Police Scotland have invited all councillors to comment on their draft Local Policing Plan 2020-2023 before it goes before the Cabinet (Police and Fire) at a meeting on the 12th of February.
I have just written to Partnership Superintendant Gary I'Anson giving him my feedback on what I feel needs to be adopted within that plan.
Below is my letter to him sent this evening. Please feel free to comment. The Police do read the threads on this page.
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4th February 2020
Dear Superintendant I’Anson,
I refer to the letter I received from Divisional Commander Hazel Hendren dated 9 January 2020 in which she discusses the draft Local Policing Plan 2020-2023 for East Renfrewshire.
I have been asked to provide comment to the Local Police Plan and forward these comments to you.
My suggestions are fairly simple and relate to an urgent return to back to basics policing.
I would like to see far more high visibility presence by officers walking beats by foot and by bicycle throughout ward 4.
Policing is now reactive as opposed to proactive where the few times we actually see a Police car in the ward is if the officers within it are responding to a call or are delivering a summons.
The only other time we ever see Police in ward 4 is when the training car passes through full of driving trainees to or from Jackton.
Police Scotland need to stop solely using cars and get back out into the community they serve on foot, on bike and in cars.
They need to engage face to face with the public as they patrol.
They need to stop in to local businesses and introduce themselves by name.
Cooperation between Police and the public used to be far more so in years gone by but now many view the Police as a completely faceless organisation that refuse to engage on a daily basis with the community.
We need more smaller offices within communities.
This can be in the form of mobile police offices in vans set up in main street areas on the weekend nights where officers can work out of being dispatched into areas very quickly.
Alternatively, the council could work hand in hand with the Police directly and allow the police to use Culture & Leisure trust run buildings such as Duff Hall in Busby or Netherlee Pavilion.
Nothing is impossible.
Failing that, there are quite a few vacant private shop fronts in ward 4 and perhaps the Police would consider taking up tenancy in them.
A small price to pay to have a big visual presence.
East Renfrewshire is suffering at the hands of further centralisation of the Police service and I believe that this is not the way to tackle issues that blight our community, most notably anti-social behaviour in the form of vandalism, graffiti, some paramilitary and homophobic in nature, malicious damage to property and wilful fire-raising.
Many young people in our communities gathering in groups, most notably recently in Busby, have taken it upon themselves to intimidate residents with threats of physical violence.
Many of them gather abusing alcohol and drugs in the streets at night.
At present we have two Police offices in East Renfrewshire.
Giffnock and Barrhead.
For an area the size of East Renfrewshire, with almost 100,000 residents, this is not fit for purpose.
There has been rumour that Giffnock Police Station will likely close in the coming few years.
This would be a mistake.
It seems that we are going backwards rather than forwards and that those that intent on causing problems in our community are winning against the Police as a result.
The Police need to be present within all of our communities at all times.
only way this can be achieved is to have a physical presence in each community that the police serve.
I speak for the residents in my ward that are really fed up with what they feel is a very lacklustre style of Policing.
They want much more Police presence and engagement with the local community.
I hope that my comments are taken into account at the meeting of the Cabinet (Police and Fire) scheduled for the 12th of February 2020.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr. David Macdonald
Ward 4
Independent.