It’s a Friday night during the Easter school holidays and police in Elgin are preparing for a night on the beat.
There are about 10 officers preparing to head into the cold and drizzle for what could be another busy evening.
They’ve read the intelligence, they know the likely hotspots for trouble and they have coordinated a plan to ensure the town centre is covered.
The Press and Journal was invited to spend the night patrol with police on the frontline of their fight against anti-social behaviour in Elgin.
- During the next four hours officers will give us their first-hand insight into what is behind the rising pattern of behaviour.
- They reveal the daily struggles they have with young teenagers repeatedly going “missing”.
- Police will take us to the surprise locations where anti-social behaviour is rising.
- And they’ll tell us about the increasing worries surrounding e-bikes and why they are proving difficult for police to tackle.
Police’s time in Elgin consumed with ‘missing’ children
It’s just after 6pm and the police’s Friday night shift is taking to Elgin town centre to begin their patrols.
The team splits up into pairs with the vast majority on foot while two officers remain mobile in a van.
To begin the night, we’re with constables Adam Meldrum and Gill Watt, both of whom have been with the police for about four years.
It quickly becomes apparent that Friday nights aren’t necessarily their busiest time of the week – and the most common issue they deal with isn’t one you would expect.
Both agree that more and more of their time is being spent locating “missing” children.
In reality, the children are not “missing”. They’ve simply decided to spend the night with their friends to the point where someone has got worried about them.
We’ve been with the police for less than an hour before they approach a girl outside Poundland who appears to be about 15.
“Now, you won’t go missing tonight will you?,” Constable Watt asks her.
After a brief conversation with the girl, Constable Watt tells the Press and Journal: “She’s one who gets reported missing most nights.
“So we’re just trying to get ahead of it now. See who she’s with, see what her plans are, just in case we have to look for her later.
“We know the ones who tend to go missing, they know us too, so you try and have an understanding with them.”
Constable Meldrum adds: “At the end of the day, it takes up resources to go looking for these kids.
“It’s resources off the street that could be available for anything else that might be happening.
“Some of the kids just seem to like the attention and they end up actually coming up to us in the street and following us a bit.
“Quite often you’ll find them outside the police station after they’ve been reported missing. They know we will have been looking for them, and they probably just want a lift home.”
How police follow anti-social in Elgin town centre
The most prominent areas for anti-social behaviour in Elgin are well-known to most by now.
Police calls to the bus station trebled in the years 2021 to 2023, culminating in the tragic death of Stagecoach driver Keith Rollinson in early 2024.
The 58-year-old dad died in hospital after a 15-year-old, who was later sentenced to four years and four months in detention, “rained punches” on him.
The attack took place after the bus driver refused to let the teen on board because he was too drunk.
Despite the situation reportedly improving in recent months, the bus station is still an area the police are aware there are still issues.
Constable Chris Mackinnon said: “There are still a lot of issues we hear about from the staff at the bus station.
“You hear about kids running about, going through there on bikes, doing wheelies on bikes and a lot of anti-social behaviour towards the staff, things like shouting and swearing.
“We do work closely with the CCTV crews to make sure this area is monitored, pretty much all times of the day.”
He added: “I wondered myself whether the situation might have got worse again when the St Giles Centre closed, whether kids would try and get in or something.
“I’ve almost been a bit surprised there has not been anything like that since it shut.”
It’s not just the usual hotspots the police monitor though.
Earlier in the day constables Meldrum and Watt made a special visit to the Biblical Gardens near the cathedral after receiving reports of youths congregating there in previous nights.
There’s nobody there today, but vandalisms have been reported in the quiet spot in the past.
Constable Meldrum said: “It happens quite often. You see they’re congregating in one place and then they’ll move somewhere else, and it just repeats.
“Some kids actually don’t want to be a bother, they prefer to be out of the way. We just have to be aware of where they’re congregating in case they start causing issues for residents.”
Police maintaining relations with Elgin businesses to keep town centre safe
As soon as Constable Vhairi Marandola and Special Constable Manju Dhesi-Dhami came on duty they made a visit to Tesco.
Supermarket staff have reported issues in recent days so the officers have stopped by to review CCTV.
The team want to see if there are any faces they recognise to see
Constable Marandola said: “We’ve had a call that the last couple of nights they’ve had a group of kids throwing stuff about outside.
“Maybe about 10 of them. They called the police at the time but they’d all departed by the time we got there.
“So we’ve been round to review the CCTV, just to see if we can tell who has been involved in it.”
The police officers have also been visiting pubs across Elgin town centre.
Constables Meldrum and Watt have been in past The Muckle Cross, checking to see how many people are out for the night and whether staff have had any problems.
Constable Watt said: “It’s just a bit of reassurance for the pubs as well, so they know we’re out and about in case there are any problems later.”
Growing e-bike worries for Elgin police
One of the growing problems facing police in Elgin is the rising trend in e-bikes being used illegally on streets and through parks.
The town is not alone in facing the issue with many communities across the UK experiencing the same problem.
Using the vehicles on public roads is illegal and can cause significant damage to parks.
E-bikes have been reported being used in Cooper Park, other parks and residential estates across Elgin.
Police have warned that anyone found riding one illegally will likely have it seized by officers.
Tonight the officers are keeping a close eye on Cooper Park to see whether there are any vehicles there that shouldn’t be.
Despite being aware of the issue, Constable Meldrum explained that tackling the problem is more complex.
He said: “Quite often these vehicles aren’t insured, they’re driven through parks and streets at speed, they’re incredibly dangerous.
“It’s difficult though. You get a call with reports of an e-bike but by the time you get there they have probably moved to somewhere else.
“It’s definitely an increasing trend though.”
Read more from Elgin
- Police searches, underage drinking, late night passengers: What happened when I spent the evening in Elgin bus station
- How police and Moray Council are trying to win the battle against Elgin’s rising anti-social behaviour problem
- How Elgin Golf Club has plotted recovery from devastating embezzlement that left much-loved institution on the brink