Police Scotland and your local police in East Lothian are committed to policing your area during this period when the country is dealing with the spread of coronavirus. This means that we are constantly monitoring our staffing levels, the calls we receive and our capacity to respond.
Current Scottish Government guidance on the coronavirus advises against public gatherings including local community meetings such as locality forums, community councils and residents’ associations. This is aimed at reducing the spread of COVID19 as well as protecting the capacity of public services.
With this in mind we have discussed the situation with some Community Councils and Local Authority Councillors across The Lothians & Scottish Borders Division, and we are all in agreement that, should any Community Council or similar meeting still take place the police will not be attending. This is to protect the capacity of the police.
We are aware that some community councils have already agreed not to meet and we will work to ensure that we still provide them with an appropriate report.
Police Officers and staff will continue to participate in the statutory meetings we currently attend (Community Planning Partnerships, Public Protection arrangements, etc.) and we will return to attending local community meetings when appropriate.
In closing I would like to thank you for your support and we look forward to fuller engagement with local community meetings in the future.
May I, at the request of NHS partners, please remind you of their advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID19.
You can reduce your risk of getting and spreading the infection by:
- avoiding direct hand contact with your eyes, nose and mouth
- maintaining good hand hygiene
- avoiding direct contact with people that have a respiratory illness and avoiding using their personal items such as their mobile phone
- covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing with disposable tissues and disposing of them in the nearest waste bin after use
Superintendent Angus MacInnes
Partnerships
Lothians & Scottish Borders Division
Police Scotland