Barrhead Boys Club Under 11

Barrhead Boys Club under 11 squad are pictured with PC Sheila MacDonald Community Constable for Barrhead (ward 2), wearing there new strips purchased with help from Strathclyde Police Wellbeing Fund. The fund is available to Community Constables to help local groups with project costs. The boys would like to thank PC MacDonald for her efforts in securing a grant of £250.

A top cop yesterday praised Scots for shopping drink drivers after a fall of more than 20 per cent in the number of Christmas offenders.

Police caught 184 drink drivers in the second week of Scotland's annual Christmas crackdown - 51 fewer than in the same period last year.

And Strathclyde Assistant Chief Constable Jim Green hailed the 22 per cent fall as proof that "drink driving is no longer acceptable in modern society".

Mr Green added that more and more Scots were phoning police to report drink drivers.

Cannabis Cultivation

On a commercial scale, the cultivation of cannabis represents a relatively high profit / low risk enterprise, which organised crime groups are increasingly attracted to. The high return on financial investments maintains criminal lifestyles, as well as providing funding for other forms of criminality in Scotland's communities, such as people trafficking, money laundering, counterfiet goods and prostitution. The organisation and set up of these large scale cultivations often involves crime groups and individuals of South East Asian origin.  

The techniques commonly used by criminals often features the renting of residential and commercioal properties for fixed / long term periods. These properties are often 'gutted' internally in order to maximise space available to house the plants and electrical equipment.  Large quantities of electrical equipment consisting of fans, heaters, high voltage lamps, and electrical wires will be delivered / taken to the property. The criminals involved in the set up of cultivations have a total disregard for the safety of others as quite often the electricity required to power the lights and heaters used to stimulate growth of the plants is by passed, mains boxes tampered with, and exposed live wires and cables evident throughout the premises.

As the festive period comes into season, Strathclyde Police is warning drivers not to drink and drive .

Every Force in Scotland , in conjunction with ACPOS, will take part in the Festive Drink/Drugs Driving Campaign which begins at 7am on Monday 8 December 2008 until 7 am Monday 5 January 2009.

Over the coming weeks police will be out in force across Strathclyde to detect those motorists who continue to act irresponsibly and drive while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

Police will set up road checks during peak times throughout the region and any motorist involved in a road traffic offence will be breathalysed as a matter of course. Officers will inspect all types of vehicles to ensure they are maintained to the high standard required for safe motoring in the winter months.