Home   News   Article

Banff and Buchan MP meets police area commander to discuss local vandalism


By David Porter

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

MP David Duguid has met with new area commander for Police Scotland, chief inspector Jamie Harrison following a spate of vandalism across Banff and Buchan.

The sensory playpark at The Den in Turriff, the Fairy Woods at Aden Park in Mintlaw and most recently, the Hut at Wrae Lake outside Turriff have fallen victim to vandalism in recent weeks causing thousands of pounds of damage and destroying handmade pieces from the local community.

Following this the MP organised a meeting with the chief inspector to discuss the police response to the incidents.

Local communities were outraged by these attacks and have rallied to support the reconstruction and repairs, with local businesses and residents donating money and materials.

CI Harrison assured that these incidents were being thoroughly investigated and urged local residents to report vandalism and anti-social behaviour to the police wherever they see it.

He told David that CCTV, recently installed in Turriff town centre has already had a positive impact on catching offenders in the town and that Police were working closely with partners in carrying out interventions with those responsible to prevent further occurrences.

Also discussed was drug crime and the proactive work the police are doing with police forces across the UK to tackle ‘county-lines’ drug crime in the northeast and help make local communities safer.

CI Harrison also detailed schemes, with which the police are involved and supporting, to tackle youth offending, including through the Mintlaw Men’s Shed and the establishment of the first Crisis Intervention Team in Scotland at Fraserburgh - embedding NHS staff with the Police to assist with mental health cases.

Mr Duguid said: “I am grateful to chief inspector Harrison for meeting with me to discuss the recent cases of vandalism and other issues today and I would like to welcome him to his role as local area commander.

“We had a good discussion about the police response to these incidents and how to prevent further attacks.

“Chief inspector Harrison and I urge all residents to report anti-social behaviour and vandalism to police where they see it – it is important that the police are informed to be able to tackle it.

“I was pleased to hear that the CCTV recently installed in Turriff has already helped police to identify and charge offenders and really shows the benefits of CCTV in these places.

“We also discussed a number of other matters of importance to my constituents including drug crime and I was pleased to hear that there has been a huge increase in successful enforcement in the last year through partnership with forces across the UK.

“I look forward to continuing to work with CI Harrison for the benefit of my constituents moving forward.”




This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More