Police carry out extra patrols in Elgin
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Police Scotland say that extra patrols were carried out in Elgin earlier this month as a response to reports of anti-social behaviour.
During the first Friday and Saturday nights of April these patrols covered several ‘hotspots’, including Cooper Park, the bus station, the town centre, New Elgin and Lesmurdie.
Chief Inspector Mike McKenzie, the local area commander for Moray, said: “I would like to highlight that the majority of young people socialise responsibly. However there are clusters of anti-social behaviour and disorder which cause concern and have a negative impact on communities.”
The force says the extra patrols were carried out to provide community reassurance, as well as to engage with young people and prevent offending.
They were funded by the Moray Community Justice Partnership, which sees officers working alongside Moray Community Wardens, Elgin BID, Arrows, Aberlour Youth Point and the Street Pastors.
Chf Insp McKenzie added: “We spoke to young people over the course of the weekend who provided some really good ideas as to what they would like and how they would use facilities to occupy their time in a more productive way.
“These ideas will be considered by the wider partnership with the aim of identifying a long-term sustainable solution to reduce youth anti-social behaviour across Moray.
“I would encourage local communities to contact police and other partners to report anti-social behaviour in order that we can be proactive in our response.”
Kathleen Robertson, the leader of Moray Council, said: “This joint partnership exercise from the Moray Community Safety Partnership shows a proactive and newly developed collaborative approach to addressing anti-social behaviours.
“It’s fantastic to see this multi-agency partnership engaging with young people directly and getting their views and ideas.
“I’d like to thank all the agencies and officers involved for their work in providing community reassurance and addressing these issues.”
