Police / No ‘massive spike’ in Lerwick crime, meeting hears
POLICE statistics appear to suggest there is no worsening trend of crime in Lerwick, a meeting of the town’s community council has heard.
Sergeant Alan Patrick said while he felt officers were busy, due to the relative staffing numbers in Shetland “it takes much less for us to be busy”.
A conversation topic of “is it still safe to go to Da Street” was included on the agenda for Tuesday night’s Lerwick Community Council meeting.
It came after a poll in The Shetland Times which asked whether people think crime has increased in recent months.
This followed incidents of assault and vandalism at Harrison Square, as well as reports of increased shoplifting.
Referring to what he called a “sensationalist headline”, Lerwick North and Bressay councillor Gary Robinson asked Patrick if things were worse in the town than previously.
The sergeant said it was “hard to say” – but due to Shetland’s staff numbers then officers are kept busy, he said.
“Whilst it does seem like it’s busier, the stats don’t necessarily bear that out,” Patrick said.
“If you take year on year, it’s not that it’s a trending graph necessarily.
“I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily a massive spike in the crime in the area however I take on board what everybody says, and rest assured we are doing everything we can to keep the numbers up.”
He added that due to the relative size of Lerwick then people can hear about crimes on the “grapevine”.
“Therefore I think that you hear about more crime from somebody, there is more crime,” the sergeant said.
Lerwick Community Council chairman Jim Anderson also said a public poll on whether crime has worsened should be taken with a “pinch of salt”. Three quarters of respondents said they did believe crime had increased in the town.
Meanwhile Patrick had words of praise for the Shetland community when it came to assisting the police.
He compared the isles to mainland towns like Coatbridge, where the sergeant used to work.
“The relationship we seem to have with the public is far in advance of what the relationship is Glasgow and Lanarkshire, and probably Edinburgh too, because we seem to get people wanting to speak to us more,” Patrick said.
He used the example of a recent assault at near Harrison Square in Lerwick which resulted in five youths being charged, with Patrick saying people had offered evidence.
“Even though certain crimes have appeared and they’re horrific, and people rightly feel upset by them, I am still pleased that we have such public interaction,” Patrick said.
Meanwhile the sergeant also said Harrison Square is “a lot better than it was” when it comes to disorder.
He also said youth workers who have been attending the street and square following the assault “seem to be doing quite an excellent job”.
Patrick also suggested police officers may have been too “nicey nicey” regarding antisocial behaviour in the past, and drinking in public in Lerwick.
“Whenever I’m on, rest assured tickets are getting handed out,” he said.
“I don’t understand the kind of thing we used to have up here which was ‘ah, just take it [alcohol] off them’. It’s an offence – it’s a £40 fine.”
The sergeant also had words of praise for pub owners in Lerwick for being “attuned” to antisocial behaviour within their licensed premises.
He said for example that Anna Hepburn at the Marlex is “exceptional for getting people out if they are causing problems” – with the police often ready and waiting for folk when they are ejected.
Meanwhile Patrick also said he has “never worked in a place where so many traffic related crimes take place, especially drink driving and driving with no insurance”.
He said education was important in terms of people knowing the law for road traffic offences.
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