Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 Source: East Kilbride News (UK) Contact: 2009 Scottish & Universal Newspapers Limited Website: http://www.eastkilbridenews.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4928 Author: Shona Mitchell OPERATION FLEET TACKLES CRIME RATE DRUGS were seized and a number of people arrested in the town during a huge crackdown on crime by police on Friday. Operation Fleet, which was a 26-hour blitz of policing in the town, has been hailed as a success. It was organised as part of the Safer South Lanarkshire initiative and aimed to reduce levels of violence, disorder, anti-social behaviour, serious and organised crime, drugs, road traffic offences and domestic abuse. The major operation was one of the largest police and partnership initiatives held in the area to target violent crime and disorder in line with the ongoing force-wide campaign against violence. It resulted in a total of 27 people being charged with a variety of offences, 107 people being searched, 19 vehicles being stopped and 66 licensed premises being checked up on. The operation was aided by CID and additional officers from road policing, operational support, gangs task force and Operation Sigma, along with special constables. South Lanarkshire Council's trading standards and environmental services, British Transport Police, Security Industry Authority, immigration officials and the Vehicle and Operators' Service Agency also backed the operation. Plain-clothed and high-viability patrol officers on foot and in vehicles set out to detect, disrupt and deter criminality and directly address issues affecting the community and its wellbeing. Eleven conditional offers were issued for traffic offences and seven tickets were issued under the Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme (VDRS). As well as cracking down on crime, officers also carried out curfew checks and domestic bail visits. One of the more unusual sights in the town on Friday was the presence of three specially trained police dogs who can sniff out everything from explosives to cash and drugs. Sergeant Colin Walker of the dogs unit told the News dogs play a vital role in todays policing. He said: "With us today we have two German shepherds who are scent trained to find cash, drugs and firearms, and a spaniel who can sniff out explosives. "Different dogs are trained for different things during their three months at Pollock Park Dog Training Unit and they then get continual training throughout their working life. We start training the dogs when they are around a year old and the majority of them retire when they get to six or seven. "There are a few different training programmes for the dogs depending what scents they are being trained to pick up on. Some are trained to track the scent of explosives and others can track cash, drugs and firearms while some can track the scent of humans and can hunt down both the person involved or items they have touched. "The dogs live at home with the officers as they are their pets as well as colleagues. This is the best way of maintaining the bond between the dog and the officer it works with." Many of the dogs used are bred by the police but they always welcome dogs donated by members of the public which you can do by contacting the training centre in Pollock. Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Tim Love said: "Violence, disorder and all aspects of antisocial behaviour remain a high priority for the police and our partners throughout the South Lanarkshire area. "Working closely with our communities and partner agencies plays a key part in deterring, disrupting and detecting the type of criminality which can have a negative effect on the wellbeing of the community as a whole. "Information gathered through consultation with residents, community representatives and local businesses allowed us to target areas of concern at a local level during Operation Fleet. "Issues such as antisocial behaviour, gang activity, youth disorder and road safety, combined with the many illegal activities which help fund serious and organised crime such as drug dealing, will all be actively and effectively targeted as they no doubt have a detrimental effect on our community."