OPERATION FLEET TACKLES CRIME RATE

DRUGS were seized and a number of people arrested in the town during a
huge crackdown on crime by police on Friday.

Operation Fleet, which was a 26-hour blitz of policing in the town,
has been hailed as a success.

It was organised as part of the Safer South Lanarkshire initiative and
aimed to reduce levels of violence, disorder, anti-social behaviour,
serious and organised crime, drugs, road traffic offences and domestic
abuse.

The major operation was one of the largest police and partnership
initiatives held in the area to target violent crime and disorder in
line with the ongoing force-wide campaign against violence.

It resulted in a total of 27 people being charged with a variety of
offences, 107 people being searched, 19 vehicles being stopped and 66
licensed premises being checked up on.

The operation was aided by CID and additional officers from road
policing, operational support, gangs task force and Operation Sigma,
along with special constables.

South Lanarkshire Council's trading standards and environmental
services, British Transport Police, Security Industry Authority,
immigration officials and the Vehicle and Operators' Service Agency
also backed the operation.

Plain-clothed and high-viability patrol officers on foot and in
vehicles set out to detect, disrupt and deter criminality and directly
address issues affecting the community and its wellbeing.

Eleven conditional offers were issued for traffic offences and seven
tickets were issued under the Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme (VDRS).

As well as cracking down on crime, officers also carried out curfew
checks and domestic bail visits.

One of the more unusual sights in the town on Friday was the presence
of three specially trained police dogs who can sniff out everything
from explosives to cash and drugs.

Sergeant Colin Walker of the dogs unit told the News dogs play a vital
role in todays policing.

He said: "With us today we have two German shepherds who are scent
trained to find cash, drugs and firearms, and a spaniel who can sniff
out explosives.

"Different dogs are trained for different things during their three
months at Pollock Park Dog Training Unit and they then get continual
training throughout their working life. We start training the dogs
when they are around a year old and the majority of them retire when
they get to six or seven.

"There are a few different training programmes for the dogs depending
what scents they are being trained to pick up on. Some are trained to
track the scent of explosives and others can track cash, drugs and
firearms while some can track the scent of humans and can hunt down
both the person involved or items they have touched.

"The dogs live at home with the officers as they are their pets as
well as colleagues. This is the best way of maintaining the bond
between the dog and the officer it works with."

Many of the dogs used are bred by the police but they always welcome
dogs donated by members of the public which you can do by contacting
the training centre in Pollock.

Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Tim Love said: "Violence,
disorder and all aspects of antisocial behaviour remain a high
priority for the police and our partners throughout the South
Lanarkshire area.

"Working closely with our communities and partner agencies plays a key
part in deterring, disrupting and detecting the type of criminality
which can have a negative effect on the wellbeing of the community as
a whole.

"Information gathered through consultation with residents, community
representatives and local businesses allowed us to target areas of
concern at a local level during Operation Fleet.

"Issues such as antisocial behaviour, gang activity, youth disorder
and road safety, combined with the many illegal activities which help
fund serious and organised crime such as drug dealing, will all be
actively and effectively targeted as they no doubt have a detrimental
effect on our community."