Multi Agency Under Age Drink Campaign Caithness & Sutherland

30th March 2010

Multi-agency drive to tackle underage drinking in Caithness & Sutherland gets off to positive start

Police say that a multi-agency initiative to tackle underage drinking in Caithness and Sutherland has resulted in a downturn in anti-social behaviour incidents over the weekend.

Operation Safety began in Wick and Thurso at the weekend. Police took four girls (two 16 year olds and a 17 year old) to Wick Police station on Friday night for being intoxicated.

Then on Saturday night in Thurso officers potentially saved the life of a 14-year-old boy, who was drunk and soaking wet when officers found him.

Officers have seized alcohol from 124 kids in Wick this financial year alone (April 2009 to now) and from 61 in Thurso during the same period.

Operation Safety is a new approach for Caithness whereby Police patrols will bring any underage drinkers into Police stations in Wick and Thurso, parents and carers will be contacted and education and advice will be given as to the potential consequences of alcohol abuse at an early age.

Working together, the Police, Education, Action for Children, Social Work and NHS Highland aim to change attitudes to alcohol by providing education and support to the young people and their parents or carers.

Care is always given to ensuring the safety of the child or young person, including arranging immediate medical care if necessary.

Two relatively new local posts will help to support the initiative. A Youth Officer, funded by the council and working with the Police and a Health Improvement Co-ordinator, based in Wick and working with the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Youth Action Team will be on hand to give advice.

Police have already been targeting local suppliers of alcohol to underage children in recent test purchase operations. Around 20 premises in Caithness were visited with one failing and in Sutherland 15 were tested and two failed.

In addition to the operations in Thurso and Wick Police also seized drink from 9 youngsters in Tain over the weekend.

North Division Commander, Superintendent Julian Innes, said: "It is now our intention to use the information learned from the weekend and use it to form the basis of our next Test Purchasing operation.

"From our point of view this was a successful weekend and it was pleasing to see our officers out and about and interacting with young people. The result has been a significant reduction in incidents of anti-social behaviour over the weekend.

He added: "It was pleasing to have found the 14-year-old boy. He was soaking wet and if he'd fallen asleep outside, which could have happened given the level of intoxication, he may have been in real trouble."

Superintendent Innes has vowed the multi-agency group will continue with these operations in an attempt to change youngsters' attitudes towards alcohol.