Meeting SPA Board Meeting Date and Time 26 February 2014 Location Rothes Hall, Glenrothes Title of Paper Chief Constable s Report Item Number 16 Presented By Chief Constable For Approval / For FOR INFORMATION Information Appendix Attached: NO PURPOSE To provide members of the Scottish Police Authority with information on progress and significant events within Police Scotland since the last full SPA Board meeting on 4 December 2013. 1. BACKGROUND 1.1 The purpose of Police Scotland is to improve the safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities in Scotland. Our focus is Keeping People Safe. This paper is intended to provide members with an update on key events and activity within Police Scotland, in support of Keeping People Safe. 2. FURTHER DETAIL ON REPORT TOPIC 2.1 Clutha Vaults (Operation Mabola) On 29 November 2013 the Police Scotland Air Support Unit Helicopter crashed into the Clutha Pub, Glasgow causing the death of ten people including the Aircraft occupants; Constables Tony Collins and Kirsty Nelis and Captain Dave Traill. Following the tragic circumstances a large number of police resources were deployed on Operation Mabola. On 1 December 2013 in addition to the Force Executive and Senior Officers there were 8 Inspectors, 14 Sergeants and 294 Constables deployed. There was also an enquiry team resourced by 1 Detective Superintendent, 1 Detective Chief Inspector, 4 Detective Inspectors, 8 Detective Sergeants and 120 Detective Constables. Investigations are still continuing to establish the cause of the crash. 1
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) are conducting the technical examination, there have been 2 preliminary reports published by them the latest being on Friday 14 February 2014. This report details that further investigation will seek to determine why a situation arose that led to both the helicopter s engines flaming out when 76 kg of fuel remained in the fuel tank group, why no emergency radio transmission was received from the pilot and why, following the double engine failure, an autorotative descent and flare recovery was not achieved. The police investigation continues to be directed by the Crown Service. The Investigative Strategy Group sits on a regular basis and contains representatives from the Crown Service and Police Scotland. The enquiry team is currently resourced with 1 Detective Chief Inspector, 1 Detective Inspector, 2 Detective Sergeants and 8 Detective Constables. There was a 3 tiered approach to welfare support for officers deployed during Operaiton Mabola. Those officers deployed at the scene during the rescue and recovery stages were briefed prior to the commencement of their duty by a Chief Superintendent, supported by Police Federation representatives and reminded of the welfare provision and support within Police Scotland available to them. Over 100 officers took up this offer of support. In addition to this, the ongoing management of all officers deployed thereafter was reviewed continually and any subsequent absences were researched to establish if they were Operation Mabola related. The standard procedures in respect of the Family Liaison Officers were carried out to ensure their wellbeing throughout. On 8 March 2014 Police Scotland will hold a Commemorative Service within Glasgow City Chambers for Constables Tony Collins and Kirsty Nelis and Captain Dave Traill. 2.2 Mikaeel Kular Enquiry Operation Finch On Thursday 16 January 2014, three-year-old Mikaeel Kular was reported missing from his home address by his mother, Rosdeep Adekayo. A Major Incident was declared and a large scale missing persons search was launched, involving large numbers of officers. Members of the public and a number of external agencies offered their assistance to search for Mikaeel and this large scale operation was co-ordinated by Police Scotland with assistance from the City of Edinburgh Council. The incident generated a large amount of media interest, with International news agencies quickly arriving in Edinburgh, both at the home address of Mikaeel and at Fettes Police Station. 2
Due to the circumstances giving rise to a significant and material risk to the life of a child, a Child Rescue Alert (CRA) was activated across the UK at 1620 hours on 16 January 2014. CRA is a system which is designed to ensure that there is a co-ordinated response by the emergency services and the media when a child is in significant danger. It allows the Police to interrupt television and radio broadcasts to pass on pertinent information to the public and also provides a protocol for a dedicated phone line for anyone with information. 32 forces out with Scotland responded to the CRA request, providing a total of 97 call takers through mutual aid. A further 41 staff from Police Scotland were involved in the response. A total of 528 calls were received through the CRA system. This was the first activation of a Child Rescue Alert in Scotland and only the second time the system has been activated in the UK. Due to the possibility that Mikaeel had been subject of a criminal act, a Major Investigation was also launched, working in conjunction with the community engagement and the search. Following a large scale search and a number of enquiries, tragically the body of Mikaeel Kular was found at 2355 hours on Friday 17 January 2014, in a wooded area in Kirkcaldy. His mother, Rosdeep Adekayo was subsequently arrested and charged with his murder, along with charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. She is currently on remand awaiting trial and the investigation continues. A welfare plan was put in place for officers involved in the search, the investigation and the discovery of the body, to ensure that they had access to support if required. A number of memorial services for Mikaeel were arranged by members of the public and community engagement continued to ensure that these passed without incident. A separate investigation was launched in relation to a number of offensive messages on social media, ensuring that a strong message was delivered that these would not be tolerated. 2.3 Social Media Analysis There has been an increase in the total number of followers on social media to 487,431. This increase is attributed to a mixture of reactive and proactive social media posts. 3
The Divisional Edinburgh and Police Scotland Twitter and Facebook accounts were used to update the public during the search for Mikaeel Kular. It is not possible to find out exactly how many times tweets were viewed but during the search for Mikaeel Police Scotland national Twitter feed attracted 2,500 new followers, and our messages were retweeted 12,250 times. Direct retweets by national news channels and high profile personalities, Cheryl Cole, Lily Allen and Robbie Savage (who have a combined 10 million followers), raised awareness of the search. For the first time, Police Scotland used a targeted/sponsored Facebook appeal for information about the murder of Jean Campbell in Cranhill, Glasgow. The appeal was seen by an additional 151,000 people in Glasgow during its week long run. Significantly, of this figure, more than 16,000 people then engaged with the appeal by reading on for more information, clicking through to Police Scotland website for further details, sharing the appeal with their Facebook friends, or commenting on the appeal. This all went towards helping raise awareness of the investigation to a wider audience. The BBC and Daily Record ran extensive features about Police Scotland s innovative use of social media for policing purposes. Using social media to raise awareness of missing people proved vital again during January 2014. A Missing 40 Year old woman was also found safe, with the Facebook post receiving 182,000 views and 4,000 shares in 24 hours. Similarly, the post regarding a missing 16 year old girl received 250,000 views and 7,000 shares in 21 hours. She was also found safe and well. More than 105,000 people read the Police Scotland safety advice feature about ATM security on social media with more than 2,100 shares, comments and likes of the post. Proactively Police Scotland featured two new cocker spaniel puppies across our national social media channels, to raise awareness of the work of the Dog Sections. These posts have gone viral and received global attention with 350,000 people viewed our images on Police Scotland Facebook page. A number of other social media outlets shared the images on their own page, and resulted in over 2 million likes and shares. 2.4 Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV) A business case has been submitted to SG in a bid to secure some funding for this programme, we are awaiting a response in relation to that, however, indications and discussions in relation to this have been positive. In the meantime, Police Scotland committed to support the establishment of groups in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh, whilst also welcoming the existing Cumnock group into the new national organisation Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV). Five co-ordinators have been in post since November 2013 who have been supported by Police Scotland and YouthLink Scotland to identify local 4
volunteers in each of the 5 areas, who could assist with the ongoing development of the groups. The recruitment campaign was a great success and culminated in 36 adult volunteers, from across Scotland, attending a bespoke 2 day training programme at the Scottish Police College, Tulliallan, on the weekend of Saturday 25 - Sunday 26 January 2014. The initial evaluation of this training event is very positive. In tandem with the recruitment of adult volunteers, co-ordinators were tasked with recruiting 24 Youth Volunteers to join each group. There are now 120 young people enrolled and all 5 groups commenced a 12 week training/induction programme, in the week beginning Monday 3 February 2014. A formal pass out parade has also been scheduled for Saturday 26 April 2014, at the Scottish Police College. This will see the official launch of the programme with 120 Young people & 36 Adult volunteers recruited to date receive recognition for their commitment demonstrated in completing the induction programme. As the groups progress to this stage work is being undertaken to identify suitable local and national volunteering opportunities for each and every young person involved in the programme. This will include suitable volunteering opportunities at the Commonwealth Games, Youth Ryder Cup, The Ryder Cup itself and a host of other events both local and national around the country. 2.5 Local Policing Division Fife Fife is a peninsula in eastern Scotland and shares inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. It has a coastline of 105 miles bounded by the Firth of Forth to the south and Firth of Tay to the north. The region s area is 1,325 km². P (Fife) Division of Police Scotland covers this entire area which is coterminous with the boundaries of Fife Council which is the third largest local authority in Scotland. Fife has a population of over 365,000 representing 7% of the total population of Scotland. The larger settlements in Fife include Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and Glenrothes. Fife is also a popular tourist destination with many people visiting areas such as St Andrews and the East Neuk of Fife. The Local Policing Commander, Chief Superintendent Garry McEwan, is supported in his role by two Superintendents and a Detective Superintendent. The Division has three Local Policing Command Areas, East, Central and West Command, where officers in the rank of Chief Inspector are responsible for ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of local policing services. Since Police Scotland commenced on 01 April 2013, P Division and the communities it serves have benefited from the additional specialist support provided by the new organisation. This includes the availability of support from both the Specialist Crime Division and Operational Support 5
Division to effectively and professionally deal with serious incidents and major crime investigations. Local officers, supported fully by their supervisors, have a very strong focus on Keeping People Safe within local communities. This has included a significant focus on tackling crimes of violence. In respect of violent crime, there has so far this year been a reduction of 20 serious assaults committed across Fife when compared to the same period last year. This represents a 15% reduction in serious assaults. The year to date detection rate for serious assaults is presently 97%. Similarly, crimes of robbery have been reduced in Fife by 12 (a reduction of 18%) when compared to the same period last year. The current year to date detection rate is 90%. The activities undertaken to reduce violent crime are supported by the work of units such as the local Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit (DAIU). The recent convictions of David McDougall and the former MSP Bill Walker highlight excellent work in this area. In the case of McDougall, the investigation began on the first operational day of our new national service and was the first case investigated by Fife Division DAIU. McDougall is currently awaiting sentence for multiple counts of rape and other violent crime against several women over a 15 year period with consideration being given to an Order of Lifelong Restriction. Within Fife, there is a very strong focus on partnership working. The Division is committed to working with all people in our local communities and with our Community Safety Partners to ensure that people are safe from crime, disorder, danger and injury. The most influential partnership in Fife is that created between the public and local Community Policing Teams. Key to our success is ensuring a high level of engagement and consultation with the community and this is achieved primarily through our Community Engagement Model (CEM) which enables local people to meet with their community officers to set policing priorities that directly address community concerns. In addition, the matters discussed at CEM meetings also assist in informing the local area Multi Member Ward Policing Plans. This has been further strengthened by piloting an Enhanced Community Engagement Model with partners that allows us to fully understand and respond to community expectations in a co-ordinated manner. This pilot is currently subject to independent evaluation. An example of effective partnership activity in Fife includes the Escalate initiative, which is a preventative approach to tackling crime and antisocial behaviour within residential premises through addressing precursor issues, in partnership, at a sufficiently early stage. Such premises are identified through repeat antisocial behaviour calls/contacts to the police and local housing offices. Noise, disturbance and neighbourhood disputes 6
can significantly affect local communities and have the potential to put persons residing at an affected address at significant risk. This includes vulnerable people and children. Escalate presents an opportunity for a number of key partners at an operational level to contribute and take more proactive action on problematic addresses and individuals, thus reducing and preventing problems and crimes at an early stage. Another area of good practice in Fife is in respect of Youth Justice. Building upon the Whole Systems Approach and in line with the Scottish Government Reducing Reoffending Programme, Fife Youth Offender Management Group (YOMG) is committed to both preventing and reducing youth crime. The approach involves a wide range of partners and services meeting on a regular basis to discuss all youth offences detected to ensure that the most appropriate intervention is applied to individual cases to provided support to the young person and to discourage and prevent future offending. Following the introduction of the YOMG, during the period 2007/8 to 2012/13 the number of youths aged 8 to 17 years committing crimes and offences in Fife has reduced by over 1500 or 49.8%. Further to this the number of repeat or prolific youth offenders has substantially reduced with 53 offenders detected for more than 10 charges in 2012/13 compared to 169 five years ago, a near 70% reduction. At a local level, officers continue to work towards delivering on the objectives outlined in the Multi Member Ward Policing Plans. These plans are updated to let people know what the Division is doing to address the issues which they told us are of concern to them. These plans are accessible via the Police Scotland website www.scotland.police.uk. In conclusion, all police officers and police staff in P Division are performing very well in delivering community priorities and continue to work hard in their desire to keep people safe across all communities and areas of Fife. 3. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 3.1 There are no financial implications associated with this paper. 4. PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS 4.1 There are no personnel implications other than those already detailed in the paper. 5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 There are no legal implications associated with this paper. 7
6. REPUTATIONAL IMPLICATIONS 6.1 There are no direct reputational implications associated with this paper. 7. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS 7.1 There are no social implications associated with this report. 8. EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS 8.1 There are no equality implications associated with this report. RECOMMENDATIONS Members are invited to note the contents of this paper. 8