Craigie strong on community spirit

Jun 5 2009 by Jenny Wood, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

POLICE numbers on the streets of Perth have swelled as more bobbies return to the beat across six areas of the Fair City.

The Muirton, Tulloch, Letham, Craigie, Oakbank and city centre areas have all benefited from more officers, dedicated to their own patch, out pounding streets and providing additional round-the-clock cover.

This week the PA takes a look at the changes to policing the Craigie area of Perth.

The Craigie beat spans from the South Inch to the motorway-side boundary of Friarton young offenders’ institute and follows the A9 round to Cherrybank before cutting back into town along the Glasgow Road.

The beat covers two prisons – Perth and Friarton, several primary schools, the harbour, popular nightclub the Ice Factory and local leisure attractions including the swimming pool and Dewars centre.

The area has strong community spirit which Inspector Dave Barclay, the senior officer in charge of Perth, hailed.

“Craigie is one of the easier places to provide policing service.

“We have very good relationships with community groups in the Craigie area,” he explained.

“We have been fortunate enough to receive support from some of the businesses on Shore Road,” the inspector continued.

“And we have an excellent liaison with staff at HMPs Perth and Friarton.

“We have an important role to play there with putting community at ease with these establishments in the area.’’

The Craigie beat also takes in some of Perth’s popular evening-time establishments with one of the town’s prominent nightclubs falling within the area’s boundary.

“Local officers have a good relationship with management of Ice Factory,” explained Inspector Barclay.

“And we provide a lot of weekend cover to help with crowd dispersal and ensure safety of those in the area.”

In Craigie long-established officer Ian Crockatt has been joined by constables Kate McCabe and Zoe Davie.

Constable Zoe Davie

Zoe Davie has three years’ police service under her belt which she has spent as a beat officer in Perth city centre. Before joining the police Zoe was an HR manager within the retail sector in Dundee.

She has enthusiastically embraced her new position in Craigie: “This is an exciting and challenging new role for myself, with my main responsibilities being to build relationships with the community and other partnerships within the Craigie area.

“This will incorporate Craigie and Moncrieffe primary schools, Tayview House for the homeless, Perth Prison and a number of neighbourhood watch meetings,” she said.

And looking towards the future for the Craigie area, she added: “There are plans in the future for a mobile police office to be available to be utilised in the Craigie area, which hopefully will give additional community reassurance and a place for residents to call locally to discuss any ongoing issues or problems.”