Operation Access

One of our Gangs Task Force’s most successful recent initiatives has been Operation Access.

The operation was designed to investigate incidents of antisocial behaviour which occur on public space websites such as Bebo.  The prime investigators were Strathclyde Police cadets, who were familiar with the social networking culture and were easily able to gain access to these sites.

The operation concentrated on open access sites that don’t need an invitation to join or the creation of false profiles. The cadets went onto the sites and used key words relating to gangs and search skills to find relevant photos and information.

Finding intimidating photos

Inspector Dougie Stevenson explained how it works:

“If you type in the name of a gang in Glasgow, chances are you’ll find some sort of mention of them.  If you’d looked for certain gangs twelve months ago, you would have come up with all sorts of photographs of people with axes, machetes - all sorts of weapons - standing there in the street with Buckfast or lager bottles.  Or you might find videos showing a fight or assault.

“This sort of thing is intimidating, it’s creating violence.  They might be inviting others to come and fight with them or warning ‘this is what you’re likely to meet if you come into our territory.’

“So what we did is systematically look at these sites.  Hopefully we’ve covered the majority in Glasgow.  One site tends to leads to another." 

Linking the images to offenders

Once the photos or videos are found, the team uses the local knowledge and expertise of community police officers to identify the offenders.  Often the photos show details of the location, making them easy to find and showing that it is a public place.  Officers download the images, and then detain and interview the suspect.  In many cases they are able to glean further information about others who are involved.

All the information is reported to the Procurator Fiscal.  Knife crime is treated very seriously by the courts and the Fiscal Service and the team has had remarkable success and detection rates with regards to offensive weapons and disorder.

Sites closing down

Inspector Stevenson on Access: “It’s hard-hitting, front-facing policing.  It’s really where it matters and we’re making an impact.  In my opinion the fact that there are less and less of these intimidating photographs showing is great. I’m sure if you ask the gang members themselves, they would be frustrated that they’ve been caught in such a way.  “It’s amazing what they’ll go through to get these things posted on websites.  I’ve seen people spray painting their names and their gang tags, all sorts of vandalism, standing on police cars, smashing windows, running on top of motors. They’re easily identifiable and then they post it on a website that pertains to their area.  It’s not very clever sometimes.  “I’m just glad to be part of being able to shut that down.”

In the last 12 months a lot of these sites have closed down, or no longer contain intimidating photographs or public display of weapons.

When the team comes across displays of weapons within houses they can involve  partner agencies  like Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GCSS) and local housing associations. They’ll go along with the local police officer and will warn the suspects and parents that this could affect their tenancy. 

Inspector Stevenson describes the impact:

“All of a sudden the police, the housing, GCSS are at their door saying this is a photograph of your son, these are the kinds of weapons he has in his room.  These are the friends bringing the weapons in. 

"This is in breach of your tenancy, because we know that these weapons will find their way onto the streets."

Preventing crime

The initiative is part of a preventative process with regards to knife crime and violence and antisocial behaviour.  It has been a huge success and has attracted critical acclaim up and down the country.  It has attracted a lot of interest from other police forces in the UK and won an award from MAMA (Mothers Against Murder and Aggression)