Police make pledge to county communities
POSTERS of dozens of community beat officers are set to be mounted in public buildings in West Lothian as part of Lothian and Borders Police's new "commuity commitment" scheme.
The force has made 11 promises to communities in a bid to help keep county streets safer and has pledged to answer 999 calls within ten seconds and attend emergencies within 20 minutes.
Police say the commitment is to increase public confidence and give people the chance to play a greater part in the way their area is policed, as well as improving communication between officers and communities.
Posters are to be hung in communities telling people who their local officers are and how they can be contacted.
Police have also promised regular community meetings to identify specific concerns related to certain areas.
Superintendent Jeanette McDiarmid, Police Commander for West Lothian said: "Visibility is a key part of our engagement process.
"Our officers are an identified part of the community and we will publish their photographs and contact details around their ward areas in order to further develop essential communication links.
"We will continue to progress community policing within our communities and the Force Community Commitment has allowed us to re-enforce our pledge to the people of West Lothian."
Part of the commitment will be the West Lothian Community Safety Unit, which includes experts in fire and prevention, road safety, anti-social behaviour and drugs awareness.
Supt. McDiarmid added: "Our 'Focus On' initiatives have been very successful following on from the Focus on drugs in 2009, where 63 people were arrested. The Focus On Antisocial Behaviour & Environmental Damage in April this year saw a reduction in vandalism of 60 per cent with environmental cleanup days, fire Home Safety Checks and focused patrolling ensuring the theme of engagement was foremost in everyone's minds.
"Our 'Focus On' initiatives have been very successful following on from the Focus on drugs in 2009 where 63 people were arrested."
Lothian and Borders Chief Constable David Strang said the idea is to stop offending before it happens.
He said: "For our communities to be confident in their policing teams it is important that we maintain a highly visible presence throughout the force area.
"We continue to support preventative policing and the best way to tackle the root causes of crime is to engage consistently with our communities to stop potential offending before it happens.
"I would encourage all members of our communities to seek out our policing team posters and familiarise themselves with the officers working to make your area safer."
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Friday 18 May 2012
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