Police to step up extra patrols in Dunfermline town centre as schools break up

It's the launch of a Fife-wide campaign targeting anti-social youth behaviour and will also be at Aberdour beach today.

With the school term ending - which police say typically results in a rise in crimes like noise complaints, disorder and other forms of anti-social behaviour - extra officers will be deployed at both West Fife locations, where large numbers of youths often congregate on the final day of term, although the beach is a less likely hotspot today given the weather.

However, street football will be available in Dunfermline town centre along with a youth disco at Harlem tomorrow (Friday), which local teenagers are welcome to attend.

The focus of the police campaign is drug misuse, road safety, violence reduction, acquisitive crime and anti-social behaviour, which begins today with the launch of Operation Prevail.

As part of Operation Prevail, community officers have provided inputs to pupils at schools throughout the Kingdom to urge young people to behave responsibly and not put themselves at risk of harm, or to get involved in criminal activity.

Dedicated resources will be deployed in towns and villages in the coming months to carry out engagement and enforcement activities and Chief Superintendent Colin Gall, Divisional Commander for Fife, said: "Our intention with these five upcoming campaigns is to dedicate resources and target specific areas of concern for local communities during the summer months.

"Each initiative has been tailored specifically following continued engagement with the public and our relevant partners and my officers will be providing a visbile presence throughout Fife over the coming weeks and months.

"My Chief Inspectors, who serve as Local Area Commanders, will each have responsibility for one of these portfolios, starting with Chief Inspector Irene Ralston, who will oversee Operation Prevail.

"All of this activity is part of our ongoing commitment to keeping the Kingdom safe and I would like to thank all of those involved in the planning and implementation of these very worthwhile operations."

Chief Inspector Irene Ralston, who is leading on Operation Prevail, said “We are committed to keeping Fife a safe place to live, work and visit and throughout the year have been working with our partners to tackle antisocial behaviour in all our towns and villages. "We recognise that reports of these offences tend to rise at the end of school term and during the school holidays, and so working alongside our relevant parners, we have a number of initiatives running to prevent these offences occurring.

"I am grateful for the support of our council colleagues in helping support street football, youth disco’s and the deployment of the Eden Bus during the summer. Coupled with increased police and Community Safety Officer patrols, we aim to provide a very visible presence across Fife.

"Let's be clear, the vast majority of Fife's young people are a credit to themselves, and only a small minority of individuals are responsible for the youth-related problems we see over the summer.

"This cannot be tolerated and while we will endeavour to ensure all of the facilities and events are open to everyone, anyone found to be spoiling the fun for everyone else, will be appropriately dealt with."

Mark McCall, service manager for Safer Communities at Fife Council, added: "We're aware of the impact of antisocial behaviour across Fife and the increase that can often come with the end of the school term. Through joint patrols with colleagues from Police Scotland we aim to minimise the impact on local communities and ensure the safety of young people involved in end of term activities."

Additional patrols will continue throughout the holiday period, with high visibility patrols undertaken daily to engage with communities and deal with any identified issues.

Fife Council's community safety officers will join police colleagues for joint patrols in area where there have previously been issues of vandalism and littering, while regular checks of licensed premises will be carried out to ensure no one under the age of 18 is purchasing alcohol, or having it bought for them.