Operation Resolve targets under-age drinking
Written by author on August 30, 2010
Operation Resolve started in 2009 as a multi agency approach to highlight the dangers surrounding young people and alcohol across Dumfries. Police Officers, working with Community Learning Development Staff Nithsdale, Community Wardens, Integrated Substance Support, Health and Social Services workers targeted a number of areas in Dumfries in an attempt to raise awareness with young people about the dangers of underage drinking.
The early operations netted between 20 and 25 young people each night it was run, who had clearly been drinking or were in possession of alcohol. These young people were transferred to the Oasis Youth Centre in Newell Terrace in the town, where their parents were called to collect them. When the young people were waiting in the Oasis Youth Centre, trained youth work and health staff engaged with them to highlight the dangers of drinking alcohol underage. Staff also gave out information about the wide range of youth work activities available to young people in the Nithsdale area. The operation received widespread publicity and was well received by the majority of parents who were called to collect their children.
Operation Resolve has continued into 2010, and in March this year only seven young people were traced one Saturday night the operation was carried out.
The most recent operation on Saturday 14 August 2010 found no children either under the influence of alcohol or indeed in possession of alcohol. The operation was carried out by a total of 12 police officers and community wardens checking out all the usual haunts where the young people gather to drink alcohol.
Inspector Alan Cook, Community Safety Officer for the Dumfries Division said, “despite the town being fairly busy on Saturday night the team failed to find any young person under the legal age for drinking alcohol, either under the influence of alcohol or in possession of alcohol. I am not going to say that the problem is sorted because we all know that isn’t the case. However I am heartened by the fact that on a busy Saturday night in the summer holidays, despite all the patrolling and monitoring of the ‘usual haunts’, we did not come across any young person where drink was found to be an issue.”
“This has been a real team effort since Resolve started back in 2009 and we did have our critics in the beginning. However, it has to be said that over a year or so, with a lot of very hard work being put into this initiative by all the agencies, both in providing alternative activities and in highlighting the dangers associated with the misuse of alcohol, and the follow on consequences, we are beginning to make a difference.”
Senior Community Learning and Development Officer for Nithsdale Mark Molloy said, “through Operation Resolve we have had young people brought into the Oasis centre who had never accessed the centre before. We are delighted that we now have nine of these young people accessing services on a regular basis. A big part of this operation was about informing young people about youth work activities that they could participate in as an alternative.”
