Police chiefs have vowed to take a “robust” stance on repeat violent offenders across the north-east.
Officers from across Aberdeenshire and Moray will next week begin chasing up outstanding warrants for those wanted for violent crimes, while patrols in towns and villages will also be ramped up in time for the festive season.
The operation is aimed at eliminated fighting and assaults.
Chief Inspector Richard Craig, area commander for Aberdeenshire South, said in the run-up to one of the busiest times of the year for the force, the key will be the “prevention” and elimination of crimes before they occur.
Yesterday he re-launched violence crackdown Operation Sandside as he took on the role as head of Aberdeenshire and Moray’s divisional violence reduction unit.
Ch Insp Craig revealed that stamping out assaults within town centres and households was one of his top priorities, and blamed alcohol for much of the aggressive behaviour across the region.
He said: “My push has got to focus on preventing violent crime. Within the division we are very good at detecting it in terms of where violent crime takes place. We’ll continue to do that but what we need to be smarter at is actually preventing violent crime and preventing the causes of violent crime.
“Alcohol is a key contributor to violent crime whether that is common assaults, domestic assaults, or whether that is assaults in open space in the streets, or in licensed premises – alcohol is the key golden thread that runs through all of those instances of violence.
“Our approach is very much one of prevention and dealing with the root causes.”
The violence reduction unit is made up of officers based in Fraserburgh, Inverurie and Elgin whose job will be to patrols the Aberdeenshire and Moray’s streets, pubs and clubs.
Officers’ shifts have been rearranged to allow for more policing to take place in the evenings and at the weekends when instances of violence can occur.
Ch Insp Craig added: “The majority of instances we have in Aberdeenshire and Moray mainly occur at weekends. Our approach for this weekend and for future weekends will be one of targeting town centres, high visibility approach and engaging with licencees.
“Saturday is one of our busiest times between 8pm and 4am. Our key areas will be key towns centres across Aberdeenshire but that’s not to say we will not be carrying out checks in more rural towns and villages.”