Top cop tells law breakers ‘we are coming for you’
NICola FINdlaY
East Kilbride’s top cop is warning criminals there is nowhere to hide and that her officers will “come and get” them.
Two years into the job, East Kilbride, Rutherglen and Cambuslang Chief Inspector Geraldine McSherry told the News there have been a number of challenges, but said she is determined to make her patch a safe place for all who work and live here.
And following the killing of Frank Sinclair in Westwood last month, the Chief Inspector moved to reassure residents that such violent crimes are not commonplace, and that patrols had been stepped up in a bid to reassure the wider community, following his tragic death.
Chief Insp. McSherry said: “We will continue to proactively police those doing wrong and if you are involved in criminality in any way, we will come for you.
“And to our communities, any information you have, continue to work with us to make it an even better community than it already is.
“Thankfully, serious violent crime, such as the recent incident in Westwood, is not a regular occurrence, it has been an isolated incident involving an individual but we continue to do proactive patrols in the area and any information in relation to that crime, we would ask people to contact us or feed in through Crimestoppers.
“However, for this to happen once is once too often.
“And, again, the proactive approach we take is also part of our efforts in tackle people carrying weapons, which is one of the areas we are trying to reduce.”
A major part of the policing strategy in the town and surrounding areas is the fight against illegal drugs.
Recent drugs busts have seen not only illicit drugs recovered in East Kilbride, but also weapons and illicit cash.
“This always remains a priority for us. Those people involved in serious organised crime, such as the sale and supply of controlled drugs, we will always target,” said Chief Insp. McSherry.
“And that is largely down to communities feeding us information and intelligence, which I would always encourage them to do.
“There may be individuals who, for whatever reason, fall under the radar for a period of time, but this information allows us to go out and target drug recoveries and we have had a number of positive returns of late.
“As in all we do, community support is vital – it is your communities these people are in and we need your assistance to make a difference.”
Anti-social behaviour and youth disorder such as underage drinking remain on the Chief Inspector’s hit list.
With traders in the Village recently reporting a spike in disorder and both alcohol and drug abuse in the area, she said they have been working hard to bring issues under control.
“We are fully aware of reports from the local community and businesses but the local problem solving team have been working hard and managed to reduce the reports of incidents within the Village,” she continued.
“Depending on who is in the area at the time, there will be opportunistic individuals involved in crime and we will continue to target that area.
“We also work in conjunction with licenced premises and visit them to increase their awareness of their responsibilities and identify who may be buying alcohol for others.”
She also said education, particularly among young people, on the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse, remains high on the agenda, working with local secondary school and upper-primary school age children, to drive home the message.
“We want our young people to be within our communities and not seen as a problem as at the end of the day, they are our future,” said the Chief Inspector.
And drivers should also take heed with road offences on the radar in a bid to make roads safer and reduce accidents.
Chief Insp. McSherry added: “Lanarkshire is a great division but personally, it has brought challenges coming from an intelligence background.
“But I have thoroughly enjoyed it – people have been positive about what we do and we have great support from our partner agencies.
“There may be challenges on a day-today basis but it is a great place to work.
“I want to continue to listen and link in with local communities and target those people causing problems to our most vulnerable.”