Falkirk police: Senior officer admits not enough resources to deliver crime fighting service needed

At a meeting of Falkirk Council on Tuesday, Chief Superintendent Barry Blair set out a plan for the next three years with priorities for local policing that include tackling anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol use.

The shocking vandalism at Dunipace FC’s grounds last weekend was an extreme example of behaviour that has been having an impact on communities across the district, members agreed.

The Falkirk Local Policing Plan 2023-26 sets out several priorities including protecting people most at risk of harm, such as victims of domestic violence; road safety and road crime; and enhancing collective resilience to emerging threats, such as cybercrime.

It also set out key priorities for the public, gleaned through a Your Police survey. Traffic-related offences, drug-related crime, anti-social behaviour and preventing acquisitive crime, such as homes being broken into, are all important to the public, the report stated.

The leader of Falkirk Council, Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, said that communities across Falkirk have become very concerned about anti-social behaviour, which has become more prevalent since Covid. She asked the Chief Superintendent how the police and council could assure communities that they were working together to deal with the issues “across all our communities”.

Chief Supt Blair said that reporting of anti-social behaviour is actually down but he agreed that this is not “what communities feel” and said it was a key issue.

He said: “Just over the weekend we saw some really stark incidences at Dunipace and the behaviour out there. It’s that type of behaviour that we need to get on top of, but I agree with you that it’s something that we need to do in partnership.”

Councillor Robert Spears questioned whether the police have enough resources to do the job.

Chief Supt Blair admitted that he would echo comments made by the Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, who steps down in August, with a warning that policing is “unsustainable” under the cash settlement from the Scottish Government.

He said: “The money we have been given, we don’t feel is sufficient in terms of the resourcing, the technology, the estate and the fleet that we think we need to deliver the policing service that we wish to deliver for the people of Scotland and the communities of Falkirk”.

However, he added that the plan he was presenting had been “built on the budget and the resources that I know I have” and he was confident they could deliver on the commitments made in it.

Several councillors also questioned the time it takes police to respond to non-emergency calls.

Falkirk North councillor James Bundy said that his constituents “are constantly told by the police that there is not enough resources to tackle vandalism, noise, litter etc”.

Independent councillor Brian McCabe said that people in Denny have been telling him that 101 “is just not working”.

Chief Supt Blair said that the police continue to be quick to respond to emergencies. He said it was vital that people have the confidence to report and said 999 calls were prioritised and would provide an immediate response.

The Chief Superintendent also assured councillors that there are national resources that the Falkirk force can – and do – call on when necessary.

He also assured councillors that extra resources were already being used to prioritise work to tackle anti-social behaviour, for example recent patrols in Falkirk town centre.

Chief Supt Blair also thanked councillors for their support in retaining the school-based officers that are “an invaluable resource”.

SNP councillor Paul Garner, who is also chairman of Dunipace FC, said he was concerned about the levels of re-offending and asked what could be done about that.

The chief superintendent said it needed a “multi-faceted” response and partnership with education and social work was particularly important. He also said it was important to look at what diversion activities could be offered to prevent bad behaviour in the first place.

The senior officer agreed the incident had been “abhorrent”, but he added that he had CID and community resources working on the case and would offer detection, intervention and support as needed.

Councillor Garner thanked the police and the community for the response to the incident.