The year has started with an increase in minor crime, in particular vandalism which accounts for about three quarters of all the crime reported. This is a particularly difficult crime to prevent because of the random and pointless nature of the crime. We have been fortunate in Stonehaven to secure funding from the Kincardine and Mearns Community Safety Group to provide two pedal cycles for use by officers in Stonehaven. This will complement the two which are currently used in Portlethen. June has been particularly busy with various annual events in Kincardine.

This will be my last quarterly report as I have moved to a new position in Aberdeen. I have enjoyed my time in Kincardine and am satisfied that I leave you in the capable hands of the dedicated officers who work here. Inspector Jim Gordon has taken over my role in Stonehaven and I am confident that he will work with all of you to address Policing issues in the area.

Ian Swan, Inspector

I think I would be right in saying that the main concerns on Deeside would be youth annoyance and disturbance caused by young drivers. To try and combat the problem of youth annoyance I have established a few initiatives with the assistance of other agencies including South Marr Community Safety Group, Banchory and Aboyne Academies and members of the Community Education Team. Recently we had the launch of the "Buying a child booze... it's child abuse" poster. This poster campaign, a great idea by PC Norman Stewart at Banchory, has been adopted by Crime Reduction Officers throughout the Grampian Police area. I have also secured finance from the South Marr Community Safety Group to purchase 2 bicycles and associated equipment for two Officers. Hopefully very soon you will see them riding about the streets of Banchory. I have seen them in operation elsewhere and they do a great job in tackling youth annoyance and getting alongside young people. 'Bikelife' in Banchory have been very supportive of this initiative as well. My intention would be to use the cyclists in other towns and villages on Deeside as well. Also going well just now is the Deeside Citizenship Project. This project has young people from both Banchory and Aboyne Academies involved and they are undertaking a series of citizenship modules. A lot of hard work has been put into this by Guidance Teachers from Banchory and Aboyne as well as Constables Andy Cruickshank, Ballater and Ali Lyon, Banchory.

In relation to disturbance by young drivers especially in Aboyne, Ballater and Torphins I am still working on how best to deal with this problem. I believe that enforcement is not the complete answer and that education has to play a part. I hope I can reassure you that it is a problem I want to solve. Coupled with this is my concern about the number of fatal and serious road traffic accidents that have occurred on Deeside. There has been such a tragic waste of young lives. I have tried with some success to have increased Traffic Patrols in the area and I am constantly lobbying for a return of Banchory-based Traffic Patrol Officers.

By now, many of you will know that I have moved to the role of Area Inspector at Stonehaven and will be replaced at Banchory by Inspector Kevin Coyle.

Jim Gordon, Inspector

This first quarter saw the start of the busy Summer shows and games season which impacts on the whole Command Area staffing. The figures for the majority of all priority crime are remaining relatively low but with new recording procedures, there is a bigger increase in recorded vandalism. This crime still features sometimes to be the only main concern in communities such as the present situation in the Westhill area. High visibility patrols have been effective in preventing the escalation of this crime and we will continue to work with all agencies to improve the quality of life. We rely heavily on the support from our Special Constabulary colleagues and during May, carried out a recruitment event at Westhill to encourage more community spirited volunteers to join. There has been one fatal road accident in the Donside Area during this period on 6 June 2004 on the A96 near Pitmachie when a 39 year old motorcyclist was killed. In general all road users need to drive appropriate to the road and weather conditions. Analysis of all injury collisions occurring in South Aberdeenshire over this period shows excessive speed continues to be a major contributory factor in most.

The second quarter despite being historically the busiest period has seen many pro-active work initiatives with a Business Card Fraud Seminar taking place at Alford, an Anti-Social Behaviour campaign launch at Westhill and Personal Safety Seminar also at Westhill. I am grateful to Garioch and North Marr Community Safety Group who provided the funding for these events. The show season came to a successful conclusion with the final event for Donside being the Lonach Gathering. This event has drawn record crowds over the last few years which has meant a corresponding increase in Police numbers, particularly in the evening. The planned dedicated Community Beat Officer for Westhill is still my intention but this has been delayed due to his commitments elsewhere. I am hopeful he will be cycling around Westhill at the start of the new year. Another fatal road accident occurred on 6 August on the A97 immediately north of Rhynie where an 81 year old motorist was killed following a collision with another vehicle.

Chris Morrice, Area Inspector

We are just emerging from a busy and challenging spring and summer period where we have struggled to maintain minimum policing levels and have managed to maintain only a basic response cover. The weekly shows, games and marquee dances held throughout the command area have necessitated the deployment of officers to specific events resulting in the reduction of local weekend cover.

The Scottish Crime Recording Standard introduced earlier in the year is resulting in previously unrecorded incidents now being included in statistical returns, which will undoubtedly show a rise in end of year figures, particularly in Vandalism offences.

The recently renovated Kemnay Police Office is now ready for reoccupation although contractor problems have resulted in delays to the reconstruction of the garage building. This will hopefully be resolved soon. The absence of the Inverurie Community Officer, Jim Mitchell, through illness and Alex Simpson who covers Kemnay, Kintore, Blackburn and Fintray, through involvement in response work and other duties, have resulted in a reduction in basic patrolling and community liaison. I am currently competing with the other Inspector Areas to achieve realistic local staffing levels to enable some preventative patrolling to take place.

D. Allan, Area Inspector

The last six months has seen the position of the establishment of the new Police Office in Ellon. There has been criticism of the fact that there is a new, larger building, but the public opening hours remain the same as before. There has been no increase in establishment in terms of civilian support staff however authorisation has recently been granted to recruit a second member of support exclusively to work in the public office. The hours the additional member of staff will work will allow the public office to open generally from 9.00 am until 10.00 pm, Monday to Friday. I am sure that you will agree that this is a step forward. A Traffic Warden is now based at Ellon four days a week and will be covering the villages in the area as well, providing a uniformed patrolling presence as well as dealing with parking, abandoned vehicles and other road traffic matters. I have also appointed Constable George Hall as the Community Beat Officer in the Ellon area albeit he will still attend to general Police duties as well. I continue to provide a weekly digest of Police matters to both local newspapers in Ellon with updates on crime problems and such like. In general terms and like so many other towns and villages, petty and annoying vandalism and anti-social behaviour are the main issues in Ellon and the surrounding areas.

Steve Pratt, Inspector

On 1st April 2004, the Scottish Crime Recording Standard (SCRS) was introduced to all Forces to ensure that crime recording was standardised in Scotland. This was anticipated to cause an increase in the level of minor crime in particular, Breaches of the Peace and Vandalism. The first 6 months of the SCRS in operation has confirmed this trend, with recorded Vandalism's increasing by almost 100%. This figure has been replicated by all Scottish Forces and having embraced this method of crime recording, one of our priorities is increasing the number of Vandalism's detected.

South Aberdeenshire remains one of the safest areas to live in Scotland and already we have seen drops in the levels of both domestic and commercial Housebreakings compared to this time last year. Finally, we continue to work with Aberdeenshire Council in the formulation of policy to introduce Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO's), which are part of the Scottish Executive's strategy and recent legislation to stamp down on loutish behaviour that impacts negatively on our communities.

Ian J. Birnie LLB. (Hons), Detective Inspector

A new year in terms of Command Area priorities did not bring any new priorities in terms of Roads Policing. The Department's continued aim, in line with Scottish Executive targets, is to reduce the levels of injury road collisions. South Aberdeenshire is a key area in this priority, as it sustains significant numbers of collisions, particularly in the serious and fatal categories. In the period April - September, the Command Area sustained 57% of the Force total for fatal road collisions, which is a slight increase on the same period in the previous year. It is imperative that where possible, we get the road safety message across to as many people as possible. To that end, the Traffic Department in South Aberdeenshire was granted £1500 by the Aberdeenshire Community Safety Partnership to deliver road safety messages by radio advertisements on North East Community Radio. The funding allowed this to take place throughout the summer months, and to maximise the spread of these important messages across Aberdeenshire. Over and above this, the Garioch and North Marr Community Safety Group repeated their £500 donation from last year to fund further drink-driving newspaper advertising this summer. It is pleasing to be able to access these levels of funding and to use them in such ways. Finally, our emphasis in the next 3 months remains unchanged, patrolling on key sections of road at the times when collisions have been proven to occur.

Ian Wallace, Inspector, Traffic.