News / New police chief pledges quality despite cuts
NORTHERN Constabulary’s new chief constable George Graham assured islanders on Wednesday that the quality of policing across Shetland would not suffer despite tough financial times ahead.
Mr Graham was in Shetland on his first short visit to meet officers and to open the new police office at Sumburgh airport, after meeting councillors on Tuesday.
The chief constable, who succeeded Ian Latimer in April, said the force would continue targeting the drug trade, and fighting anti-social behaviour as well as alcohol misuse.
“Life is not going to be easy for any of us in the public sector over the next three, five or ten years. We know we have to do things more efficiently, save money but still provide services that people value,” he said.
“We spend around 87 per cent of our financial resources on our people, staff costs and wages. It will be my endeavour over the next few years to spend as much as we can on people, because it is people that deliver the services here.”
The 47 year old, who joined the Dumfries and Galloway force aged 19, said the police had a two pronged approach to tackling drug abuse with the aim of reducing demand.
He said education and prevention were just as important as enforcement to stem the tide of illegal drugs into rural Scotland.
Mr Graham said that police in Shetland have had outstanding success in controlling the drug trade into the isles, thanks to a combination of pro-active policing and intelligence gathering.
“I am not convinced that any associated increase in drug associated crime is tangible and real at the moment in Shetland,” he said.
Shetland area commander chief inspector David Bushell said: “We have had a big increase in seizures over the last 18 months, and a lot of that is thanks to the community intelligence coming in.
“What we find here in Shetland is that we have crime waves occurring. Some of that is connected to people with a drug habit, but a lot of the time we can be quite specific as it is committed by just one individual.”
Mr Graham added: “There is much criminality, if not more, connected with the abuse of alcohol and we need to bring that out in to the daylight as well. From domestic violence to drink driving, alcohol is related to so much misery. I would say tackling the misuse of alcohol is an equally important mission.”
Later on Wednesday, the chief constable officially opened the new police office at Sumburgh airport, replacing the Dunrossness police station that closed earlier this year.
Constable Stuart Millar will be on duty from the new office, which has a front counter, a back office as well as an interview room.
Police hope that moving the south mainland station to an office within the airport will increase the force’s visibility and act as a deterrent to people hoping to smuggle drugs into Shetland through the airport.
Chief inspector Bushell said: “The new office will also be used by other officers deployed to the airport or officers passing through the airport.
“This will give us an excellent opportunity to enhance security and safety at the airport and provide reassurance to those travelling through or working at the airport.
“The office however is not just for use by people at the airport, but residents in the Dunrossness area will be able to meet with PC Millar there if needed.
“We have seen a large quantity of drugs come into Shetland through the airport and this facility will enable us to operate even more effectively in tackling this.”
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