Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has praised smarter policing operations ahead of a visit to Falkirk tomorrow to witness first-hand how Central Scotland Police are freeing up more officers to work on the frontline.

MacAskill will inspect the force's Priority Crime Unit which investigates many of the crimes that have the highest impact upon communities, such as theft, dishonesty, housebreaking, car crime and vandalism. The wider benefit of the unit is to free up more police officers' time to deal with core duties.

Speaking ahead of the visit to Falkirk Police Station, MacAskill said: “Smarter and more visible policing is playing a vital role in helping to drive down serious and violent crime across the country.

“Understandably people feel safer from crime if they see and experience effective frontline policing in their communities. That is why we are directly funding 1,000 additional police officers and working with forces to further enhance operational policing in our communities - the additional 150 officers for 2007/08 passed out of the police training college last month.

“I am determined to see even more officers becoming part of the fabric of the communities they serve, building local knowledge, and forging strong relationships with families and businesses.

“But we must also continue to blitz our bevvy and blades culture, tackling the underlying causes of crime - drink, drugs and deprivation - through our new alcohol misuse and drugs strategies.”

The Justice Secretary will also visit the Community Service scheme in Falkirk. The scheme was highly praised in the recent Independent Prisons Commission report and sets the benchmark for other authorities in terms of effectiveness and immediacy of intervention.

He said: “Why should so many minor offenders receive free bed and board courtesy of the taxpayer when they could be paying something back through the sweat of their brow on tough community sentences?

“Prison governors constantly tell me that too many offenders serving short sentences for minor crimes pass through our overcrowded prisons, often with mental health or addiction issues. For many low level offenders prison is not addressing the causes of this offending behaviour.

“The recent McLeish report was very clear that there is much to be done before we can deliver a modern policy that achieves the dual goals of better protecting the people of Scotland and reducing re-offending.

“The Falkirk Community Service scheme provides a perfect example of what can be achieved in terms of effectiveness and immediacy of intervention and providing repeat offenders with a path out of reoffending.”

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