Fife's top cop upbeat on single force's first year

The start of April marked the first anniversary of the end of Fife Constabulary and the creation of Police Scotland.

The first year has seen widespread criticism of local station closures and controversy over an upsurge in the use of stop and search.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie, who opposed the changes, told the Press recently they had resulted in the takeover of smaller forces by the former Strathclyde force.

Chief Superintendent Gary McEwan (pictured), Local Divisional Commander, said, “The creation of Police Scotland is the biggest reform of the public sector in this country since devolution.

“Consequently over the last year we have continued to adapt and transform our local policing services to ensure that we are delivering the best possible service for our communities.

“At the outset we sought to deliver this transformation while providing a service that was not noticeably different to the people of Fife, something that I believe we have achieved.” He went on, “As Local Policing Commander for Fife it has been my privilege to oversee this transition, in what has been a challenging year, probably the most challenging of my 24 years in policing. “But this was not totally unexpected, as we have in effect established a new national organisation within a very short period of time, an organisation that is the second largest police service in the United Kingdom.

“As such, our journey as Fife Division is just beginning and there is still some way to go before the service is fully transformed.

“Nonetheless, we are meeting the challenge and I am encouraged by the positive progress to date and the fact that policing services within Fife continue to be delivered to a high standard. “This is reflected in our most recent local performance figures, which identify an overall reduction in real time-reported crime relating to serious matters, such as violent and sexual crime.

“This includes 17 fewer people being subject to serious assault, dropping from 144 to 127, a reduction of 12 per cent on the previous year.

“There have also been reductions in anti-social behaviour offences, in particular those relating to vandalism.

"For example, there have been 137 fewer vandalism offences reported, which is the lowest recorded figure since 1999, and represents a reduction of five per cent from the previous year’s figure of 2888.” He continued, “From a Fife perspective ‘local resources’ are the core compliment under my direction as Local Policing Commander.

"In this respect we have a core compliment of 839 officers within Fife.

"However, my divisional staff are supported regionally and nationally by groups of specialist officers.” The first case investigated by the national Major Investigation Team (MIT) took place in Rosyth just after the new force started. Chief Superintendent McEwan recalled, “This was a most tragic incident which involved an estranged partner murdering his ex-partner and then taking his own life.

“To deal effectively with this, local officers from Rosyth provided the initial response and specialist resources were duly called in to provide support.

“Thereafter, the newly-established MIT took charge of the investigative aspects of the case, which attracted widespread publicity across the UK.

“As a consequence of this integrated approach, the matter was dealt with efficiently and provided early evidence of the benefits associated with having specialist investigative resources to draw upon.” On crime figures he said, “Detection rates have also increased for serious assault, up 6.9 per cent from 88.2 per cent to 95.1 per cent. Likewise, detections for robbery have increased from 85.5 per cent to 93.7 per cent, representing an 8.2 per cent rise. “Furthermore, public space assaults are also down on last year, with a reduction of 99 recorded charges, falling from 1910 to 1811, which equates to 5.2 per cent.

“The likelihood of becoming a victim of violent crime in Fife is now at its lowest level for 10 years.” On stop and search the police chief stated, “Tackling violence requires a multi-faceted response and one tactic we have utilised very effectively across Fife is that of stop-and-search.

“In this respect, seizing alcohol, taking weapons off the streets and disrupting drugs supplies, all of which are the direct result of pro-active stop-and-search procedures, not only detects individuals for particular offences, but also prevents them committing future crimes.

“However, I am aware that in certain quarters there is some concern regarding the use of these procedures.

“Consequently, I would seek to assure people living in or visiting Fife that any use of stop-and-search will always be proportionate and in the main, such searches will be carried out within areas identified as experiencing violence, disorder or anti-social behaviour. However, in all cases people will be treated with dignity and respect.

“While we have carried out 9324 stop-and-searches within Fife it is significant that there has been only one complaint submitted locally in relation to this procedure.” Mr McEwan also pointed to an increase in reported sexual offences. “Crimes of indecency in Fife are up from 519 to 893. These figures primarily relate to offences occurring behind closed doors within people’s homes and include rape, indecent assault and other sexual offences. “A number of high-profile UK-wide investigations, such as that involving Jimmy Savile, have brought the issue of sexual abuse and, in particular, historic sexual abuse into sharp focus.

“I believe these national enquiries have contributed significantly to an increase of local reporting, by encouraging victims to come forward and report offences that have been committed against them.

“We can see this in the fact that 437 of the 893 recorded sexual offence charges related to l crimes committed in previous years, which is 49 per cent of the total.”