News / Drug and domestic abuse up
SHETLAND police have reported a significant increase in the amount of drug offences they tackled last year as well as a rise in cases of domestic abuse.
Reporting to the Shetland Community Safety and Resilience Board, area commander chief inspector Lindsay Tulloch said the figures showed islanders could have confidence that reports of any crimes would be followed up.
In his report, Tulloch said the number of violent crimes in the six months from April to November last year had gone up from seven to eight compared with the previous year.
The number of dishonesty cases had risen from 143 to 153, but the number of “other crimes”, which includes carrying offensive weapons, breaching bail and drug offences rocketed from 76 to 216, an increase of almost three times.
Tulloch said the figures demonstrated the commitment he had made to disrupt the supply of controlled drugs in Shetland.
The police have been helped by the Dogs Against Drugs charity, which scanned 2,460 at the ferry terminal and Sumburgh airport during 219 deployments over those six months.
As a result 14 people were reported to the procurator fiscal for drug offences.
Tulloch added that the number of domestic abuse cases being reported to the police had gone up from 82 to 107.
“We believe that this rise is in part due to people’s awareness that crimes of this nature can be reported and will be treated with the utmost care and attention,” he said.
“Since April 2013, Police Scotland has been working hard with local partner agencies to gain the trust of victims of abuse and bring offenders to justice.”
The other main focus has been on driving, with a reduction in speeding but an increase in people driving while on their mobile phone or without a seatbelt.
The local police force has been working with schools to raise young people’s awareness about all these issues.
Tulloch added that there had been an “overwhelming interest” from young people in the isles wanting to volunteer with the force since the Police Scotland Youth Volunteers scheme was launched last month.
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