Central Scotland Police

Safer Central

Safer Central is the over-riding philosophy by which Central Scotland Police carries out its day-to-day business.

It underpins the process by which all aspects of our communities' concerns are addressed and it endeavours to target these communities in an intelligence-led meaningful way. Listening to community concerns and responding in an appropriate manner is the cornerstone of the Safer Central philosophy.

The Safer Central philosophy is implemented by five initiatives. Click on the links on the left or click a banners below to find out more about each initiative as well as individual performance stats and objectives.

• Safeguard
• Overlord
• Reassurance
• Tundra
• Advance

Safer Central since 2001

Since Chief Constable Andrew Cameron's launch of Safer Central in February 2001 the communities of the Central Scotland Police area have felt the benefit of numerous successful campaigns.

Safer Central is not merely an initiative; it is a high-profile policing philosophy. This philosophy adopts a high-visibility, intelligence-led approach to delivering a targeted police service to the communities of Central Scotland.

The history of Safer Central

Prior to the launch of Safer Central in April 2001 there was a period of strong community engagement and consultation to establish the areas of prime concern to residents and businesses in the area. These concerns covered areas such as violent crime, drugs, road safety, anti-social behaviour, and property crime. The identified need was for a strong, visible police presence so that communities could retain the quality of life that they would like and to reduce the fear of crime.

As a result of this consultation a comprehensive strategic review was launched, funding was resourced, and a strong commitment was given by the police, the Police Board, communities and partner organisations. Ultimately the Chief Constable, Andrew Cameron, announced that he was committed to 'increasing the number of police officers tackling those issue of concern, while at the same time giving reassurance to the public by the presence of more police officers on our streets'.

Thus, on February 28th 2001, the concept of Safer Central was born.

The workings of Safer Central

There is one Inspector and two Sergeants who work full-time as co-ordinators of Safer Central activities, but one principle is that everyone in the force has a role to play in the Safer Central philosophy. One unique feature is that guests are invited to pre-operation briefings and, sometimes, as observers on an operation. This helps us to raise the profile of Safer Central, builds stronger links into the community and to other organisations, and also allows other groups the opportunity to feel involved with making Central Scotland a safer place to live

Safer Central, as mentioned above, is an 'intelligence-led' philosophy. This means that priority is given to intelligence gathering and analysis. Each operation is planned using the 'National Intelligence Model', so that crime hot-spots can be identified and targeted. This has proven to be a much more effective method of reducing crime than some of the traditional, unfocused, methods used in the past.

Operations can last up to eight weeks, involving seventy or more officers, or they can take place on a single evening. They will often involve Special and Community Constables, and can be carried out jointly with partner organisations.

After each operation there is a structured de-briefing of the staff involved so that information and experience is fed back into the system. Also, posters and leaflets are issued to the public to inform them of the activity so that they can be reassured that Central Scotland Police are continuing to focus on the areas of community concern. This, in turn, encourages individuals to expose criminal activity in their area, confident that their information will not be ignored.
Chief Constable Andrew Cameron with a major drugs haul
Results

• In the last financial year there have been over 300 Safer Central operations carried out.
• Over the same period 230 drug dealers have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
• 201 crimes were detected in a single two-week operation by Stirling CID.
• £1 million of suspected criminal assets have been restrained since April 2004
• Central Scotland has one of the lowest crime rates in the UK.
• We also have one of the highest detection rates in the UK.
• £2.6 million, street value, of drugs has been recovered since Safer Central was launched.

To quote the HMIC Inspection Report of 2003, 'Central Scotland Police has deservedly earned a high reputation for ... commitment to the public in terms of listening to their needs and expectations and securing the provision of a high profile policing service through the Safer Central philosophy and its associated programme of operational initiatives.'
Structure

The five operational pillars of Safer Central are:

• Safeguard - Tackling violent crime
• Reassurance - Making people feel safer
• Overlord - Tackling the dealers
• Tundra - Making our roads safer
• Advance - Moving the force forward

You can find out more about each by clicking on the links above.