Tayside Police charge 900 for urinating in the street

Nov 24 2009 by Alison Lowson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

NEARLY 900 people have been given penalties by officers from Tayside Police for “urinating or defecating” in inappropriate places throughout the region this year.

And the disturbing statistics, released recently by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), were described as “shocking” by Mid- Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser.

In a move designed to highlight the number of fixed-penalty notices issued across Scotland in 2008-09, the document also reveals 258 acts of vandalism received similar punishment.

The total across the whole of the country for the two crimes, when results for all of Scotland’s police forces are grouped together, is 9469 and 971 respectively.

The local politician said: “The people of Perthshire will be astonished and alarmed by the fact there were 885 fixed-penalty notices given to people for urinating or defecating ‘in circumstances causing annoyance to others’ in Tayside this year.

“To make matters worse, these statistics are almost certainly an underestimation of the problem, as they record only those actually caught.

“I believe that if these perpetrators in Tayside are not worried about the consequences, then they will not be worried about their actions.

“We need to send out a much stronger message to discourage this type of behaviour as the majority of law-abiding people in Perthshire should not have to put up with this,” he said.

The statistics also reveal there have also been 2149 penalties handed out for breach of the peace in the region and 315 cases of people being apprehended for consuming alcohol in places where it’s illegal to do so, because of local by-laws.

Mr Fraser labelled the figures “disgusting” but paid tribute to Tayside Police officers operating locally for their attempts to stamp-out anti-social behaviour.

He added: “Our local officers carry out a magnificent job and are committed to stamping out this type of disgusting behaviour and crime.

“It’s due to their hard work and dedication that there has been a high number of people caught and issued with fixed-penalty notices.”