Police in Dundee say free bus passes for young people are “not the cause” of anti-social behaviour problems in the city.
A number of incidents have been reported in the city centre in 2022 involving youngsters setting fires, vandalising property and abusing shop staff.
Police Scotland ramped up its patrols in the city centre in March in an attempt to tackle a “clear spike” in incidents.
It came as groups of teens aged between 13 and 17 had been gathering in groups of about 30 to 40 people at a time.
‘You’ll find there are other issues in a person’s life’
The introduction of free bus passes for those aged under 22 has been linked to anti-social behaviour by police in other parts of Scotland.
It has also been claimed that some Angus bus drivers are stopping the children using the passes due to concerns about behaviour, with some calling for a “radical rethink” of the Scottish Government policy.
But speaking to The Courier, as we went on patrol with officers to look at efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour, Sergeant Chris Grieve said: “You’ll generally find there are other issues going on in a person’s life, other than, ‘We’ve got a free bus pass, let’s go cause havoc’.
“I generally don’t think that would be the mentality of it.
“Having a free bus pass in itself is not the cause of anti-social behaviour.”
Incidents reported on by The Courier this year include advertising screens and bus shelters being smashed and benches being vandalised.
‘Improvement’ since new policing team set up
But Sgt Grieve says things have “improved” since the new policing team was set up.
He said: “The staff who were getting the biggest grief were your McDonald’s and KFC staff.
“We have regular contact with him now.
“The feedback from them is, there’s a definitely an improving picture since the city centre team was started.”
Fellow officer Inspector Alan Baird says he believes the new policing model is now “working really well”.
He said: “You’ve got a community policing team based in the city centre, where they weren’t for a number of years.
“We’ve got challenges like any other public sector service with resources and funding.
“It’s certainly been a lot better with the introduction of more patrols but there are flare-ups.
“It’s disappointing that people still choose to go and damage the city centre because that’s the area that all your visitors come into.
“We’re working with our multi agency partners (Dundee City Council and Hot Chocolate Trust) to try and get to the root of the problems.”
Conversation