Ministry of Defence Police will be taking a more active role all over the Rosneath Peninsula, a meeting heard this week.
Officers will be involved on public land as well as sites owned by the MoD, Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council was told.
Willie Lavers said on Tuesday night: “Over the next year or two years what we plan to do is introduce greater interaction with the local community.
“We will look to where possible collaborate with what Police Scotland do.”
Cuts in Police Scotland cover were highlighted as part of the background to the initiative – earlier in the meeting concerns had been voiced over news that the mobile police office had been cut – it was introduced when Garelochhead Police Station was closed
Mr Lavers said priorities include crime and wildlife protection, as well as counter-terrorism: “We are looking to make the area safe.”
Spot checks will mainly be carried out on MoD sites, such as the Coulport road and Glen Fruin ranges, but he said MoD Police were covered legally to act in other areas, and people may be asked why they are in the area.
“It is a case of working together, we are not here to replace Police Scotland, we are just here to augment what they do, we are not looking to encroach on their role but we can act on their behalf,” he added, saying Police Scotland Inspector Colleen Wylie supported the move.
He said: “We’re encouraging a culture of safety and security across the whole area and that does not just mean the MoD assets, it means the whole area.”
The meeting heard that MoD Police had the same power and legal protection as Police Scotland, and would respond if flagged down by the public, and contact cards would soon be available.
Another MoD Police officer, Lachie Bain, said: “We are not on a fishing trip, we are not out to annoy people,” adding that the public could contact them if they saw people taking photographs or submarines or other military vessels.
They conceded that there was widespread interest in submarines and warships, but Mr Lavers added that vehicle details may be checked against records: “Taking a picture of a naval vessel is not necessarily an offence in itself, but if there are other associations.
“They are not looking to see what people are taking pictures of, but they will take details and put it onto the system.”
Community council vice-chair Graham Barr said people in the area generally felt safer because of the number of MoD Police, and the officers asked councillors and public present if anyone would have a problem with being approached by police if they were on MoD land and everyone said no.
Mr Lavers said: “If we come and speak to you it is not necessarily that we feel you are a terrorist, it is whether you are a friend or foe of Argyll.”
How interesting. If they have the capacity to do more, why only start now? What’s the real reason for the new policy?
And I think it’s reasonable to take photos of whatever I like from the public highway, without people asking questions and checking my details.
It would be helpful if the MOD police would co-operate with Police Scotland to keep the A814 Garelochhead-Arrochar road open whenever the A82 is closed on Loch Lomond.
It would be interesting to see what powers they have with regards to Road Traffic Offences? Training and calibrated equipment for speeding etc? Not a lot I would imagine.
Only need to provide Name and Address to police Scotland so I would imagine that is the most MOD are able to ask for.
We have been checked a few times by MoD while taking pictures of subs and warships. Never any problems, just checking who we are. Quite happy to be checked out, can’t see how they can stop anyone taking pictures though as Public Highways, but tbh they have never asked us to stop taking pictures once in the last 2 years.
Not to sure many families with children in a Vehicle or other people mainly the Elderly Majority of the population will like being pulled over by officers carrying Side Arm’s..!!!
The local police are cut to the bone – for a while there’s been no Kilcreggan police, but now they’ve axed Garelochhead as well, and the H’burgh station is on restricted hours – all now based in either Dumbarton or Clydebank. So MoD police are to stand in their place? The MoD police guard nuclear installations; Strathclyde Police (now centralised Police Scotland), for all their faults, are supposed to look after their communities – how much training do MoD police have in terms of local planning in terms of emergencies, such as floods, widespread power cuts, emergency road closures, car crashes, etc. How much local knowledge do MoD police have, besides checking our registration plates? Yes, there are MoD plods that have been here for years, but many are drafted in from down south or elsewhere. This is policing on the cheap, with full-on spying access tacked on. But don’t know who is to blame: is it Scottish Gov for budget cuts, or is it Westminster deciding MoD police should have more powers, esp. in the North Britain colony that houses Westminster’s nuclear codpiece – and this is what we local yokels need to find out.