Item 5 23rd November 2010

PROFILE OF SOUTH DIVISION

AREA PROCURATOR FISCAL: LESLEY THOMSON

AREA BUSINESS MANAGER: BILL COMRIE

DIVISIONAL MANAGEMENT TEAM:-

DIVISIONAL PROCURATOR FISCAL: KATIE STEWART

DIVISIONAL BUSINESS MANAGER: JANIE PATTERSON

DEPUTY DIVISIONAL PROCURATOR FISCAL: ANDREW MCINTYRE

PRINCIPAL DEPUTES: ISOBEL MARTIN MARK ALLAN LIZ RAMSAY FIONA MILLAR

BAND D MANAGER: SHARON MOONEY

BAND C MANAGERS: PAULINE FULTON MARC GORDON JANETTE MCINNES CLAIRE NICHOLLS LINDA MCGREGOR

VIA OFFICERS: CLAIRE GORDON JACQUELINE MCCAFFERTY SUZANNE LANG Glasgow South Division Profile August 2010

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA AND COMMUNITIES WITHIN COPFS ‘G’ DIVISION

South Division COPFS encompasses most of Strathclyde police ‘G’ Division and also encompasses one sub-division of ‘Q’ Division, viz., ‘QD’. All cases occurring in Glasgow reported by the Road Traffic Policing Complex in are submitted to South Division COPFS.

There are many varied communities within G Division including a large population of Ethnic Minorities and Asylum Seekers. The police sub-divisions all have diverse profiles encompassing some areas of social deprivation while others are much more affluent.

STRATHCLYDE POLICE ‘G’ DIVISION Divisional Commander G Division – Chief Supt Robin Howe

‘Q’ DIVISION Divisional Commander –Chief Supt Tim Love

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GA Govan

This multi-cultural Sub Division includes well-known areas such as Govan, , , , , Hillington, Craigton, , Ibrox, Cessnock, Plantation, , , , , North and . The key locations include the Southern General Hospital, Ibrox Statium, the BBC Media Centre and the Glasgow Science Centre.

GB Pollok

This area comprised of South Pollok, Crookston, Southpark Village, , Arden, , , , part of , Auldhouse and . The key locations include Pollok Estate with its extensive woodland walks and the Burrell Collection, Leverndale Hospital and the Silverburn Shopping Centre.

GD Cathcart This Sub Division covers , Battlefield, Kingspark, , , , Carmunock, and East. The key locations include the Glasgow Victoria Infirmary and the National Stadium at Hampden Park..

GE New Bounded by the to the north and Queens Park and Shawlands to the south, this area includes the community areas of New Gorbals, Oatlands, , Queen’s Park, , Crosshill, , the western side of Shawlands, , and . The key locations include Glasgow Sheriff Court and the Glasgow Central Mosque.

Rutherglen and Cambuslang – QD Division The Sub Division is the home to the towns of Rutherglen and Cambuslang, which lie to the north west of South Lanarkshire Division, forming the gateway to the area from the city of Glasgow. This is the most densely populated section of Q Division with some 54,000 people residing in a compact area of 12 square miles.

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CRIME TRENDS

Criminal Reports Submitted for the Financial Year 2009 – 2010

The number of criminal reports submitted to the Glasgow Office in the Financial Year 2009 to 2010 was 65,244. The number of criminal reports submitted to South Division was 23,072 or 35% of the criminal caseload for the Glasgow Office. Summary Cases As with all the Divisions in Glasgow, South Division has a robust approach to summary cases to ensure the workload is placed within the appropriate court. In line with the National and Area protocols, there is an extensive use of the Stipendiary Magistrate and District Court.

We are working continuously with Scottish Court Service to ensure that cases proceed in a timely and efficient manner.

COPFS Published Target Compliance The Take and Implement target is taking and implementing a decision in 75% of crime reports within 4 weeks of receipt. Glasgow South Division achieved 82% in the Financial Year 2009 -2010. The average performance for the last quarter was 77%.

Solemn Cases The Division no longer deals with High Court cases as a specialised division has been set up to take these cases forward. The High Court Division is split into 3 teams – Homicide, Sexual Offences and Serious Crime. These teams deal with all aspects of the cases and are experts in these areas.

Net Petitions Reported for the Financial Year 2009 -2010

Glasgow had 1947 cases as net petitions (after reductions to summary are taken into account) Glasgow South Division accounts for 683 petitions or 35% of the business.

Precognitions to CO for the Financial Year 2009 – 2010 Glasgow produced 1,566 precognitions with Glasgow South Division producing 535 precognitions or 34% of the Glasgow total.

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Bail Cases Target Compliance for the Financial Year 2009 - 2010 Target for High Court – 80% in 9 months Actual Achieved: Glasgow 92%: Glasgow South Division 97%

Target for Sheriff and Jury – 80% in 8 months Actual Achieved: Glasgow 88%: Glasgow South Division 88%.

VICTIM INFORMATION AND ADVICE There are currently 6 staff members in VIA South providing a dedicated service to eligible victims, witnesses and bereaved nearest relatives across the Glasgow South area. At present, VIA South receive approximately upwards of 212 new cases month and more than half of these are related to domestic abuse. VIA work closely with staff in the Domestic Abuse Unit (see below) as well as the police and other external support agencies, such as ASSIST. Other case referrals are related to racist and religious crimes, sexual offences, involve child and/or vulnerable witnesses and cases that are likely to involve trial before a jury. VIA explore additional support that will be required if witnesses are required to give evidence and draft applications for Special Measures under the Vulnerable Witnesses () Act 2004. VIA have operational responsibility for the Victim Impact Statement Scheme. This was introduced in April 2009 for cases prosecuted on indictment and the legislation gives victims the right to make an Impact Statement for prescribed offences.

DOMESTIC ABUSE COURT A dedicated Domestic Abuse Unit was established in March 2009 for the whole of the Glasgow area but embedded in South Division. Building upon existing arrangements and experience, it brings together specially trained prosecutors and fiscal officers from across the three Glasgow geographic PF Divisions, receiving cases from the three Strathclyde Police Divisions, A, B, G and also QD Sub Division which serve Glasgow. The Unit provides a consistent and specialist resource for all domestic abuse cases reported by the police and enhances the service provided to victims of domestic abuse across the city.

VIA colleagues play a particularly crucial role in working with victims and witnesses in domestic abuse cases. The provision of timely information about case progress; about protective bail conditions; and signposting sources of support are all vital in helping victims of domestic abuse find confidence to speak to their experiences.

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Deputes within the Unit appear daily in the specialist Domestic Abuse Court at Glasgow Sheriff Court, which is presided over by a group of specially trained sheriffs. The staff within the Unit are responsible for investigating and marking domestic custodies and preparing and prosecuting all summary cases within the Domestic Abuse Court. A dedicated team also prepare domestic cases for proceedings at solemn level.

The work of the Unit depends on strong and productive relationships with many criminal justice partners, especially the police and ASSIST, the victim advocacy and support agency for victims of domestic abuse. Information is shared between agencies, whenever appropriate, to ensure our collective response to this type of offending is as robust and efficient as possible. Close links have also been established with the Strathclyde Police Domestic Abuse Task Force which was set up in 2009 to target the more serious and persistent domestic offenders. Advice, guidance and direction are provided regularly to the Task Force in relation to ongoing investigations.

LIAISON WITH CRIMINAL JUSTICE PARTNERS

Police There is a regular meeting of legal managers and admin managers with the police every 2 months. These liaison meetings are on a formal basis but informal meetings are convened when the need arises. There are a number of joint initiatives with the police and other partners and stakeholders.

SCRA – Scottish Children’s Reporters Agency There are regular meetings held with the Reporter for the ‘G’ Division and ‘QD’ Division areas so that decisions can be taken on cases which have been jointly reported.

Initiatives x The Archway - The first Scottish Sexual Offences Referral Centre This service, which is funded by / NHS and Police operates from the Sandyford Initiative. After a successful evaluation, funding has been agreed to secure the future of the service. Archway provides a one-stop shop for health and forensic services for victims of sexual violence. There is close, ongoing, contact with the clinicians in terms of both practice

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and policy and in individual cases. The Divisional PF, Shona Barrie, sits on the Archway Steering Group; has been closely involved in the evaluation, which was published in late November 2009; and regularly contributes to training of Archway staff. The sexual offences team have day to day involvement with Archway staff.

x Football – Anti-Sectarian Initiatives and Public Order ‘G’ Division has within its boundaries, both the National Stadium at Hampden and Rangers Football Club Stadium at Ibrox. The Deputy and Divisional Fiscal attend matches in order to find out how the police go about planning and executing policing of such events and are briefed/advised on planning for such events. Principal Deputes and indeed Deputes can also have the opportunity to see this first-hand. There is rigorous planning and intelligence exchanged between the police and COPFS before any of these major events and individuals arrested are reported in custody or by undertaking. There is rigorous enforcement by the police of the protocols agreed where sectarian behaviour is detected.

x Domestic Abuse Court Pilot Following the success of this pilot, the Court has been expanded to deal with cases reported by the 3 police Divisions serving Glasgow and QD Sub Division, with two Domestic Abuse Courts now sitting on every day of the week, soon to be supplemented with a third court.

The Deputy Divisional Fiscal, who has Area responsibility for domestic abuse, and members of the Unit regularly speak at and attend seminars and meetings with external stakeholders to promote and explain the prosecutor’s role. This is crucial to raise awareness of the seriousness of this type of offending and the work being done by criminal justice agencies to combat it and improve services for victims.

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Other Agencies

x ASSIST There is a strong and effective working relationship with this agency which was set up 5 years ago to provide independent support and advocacy services to victims of domestic abuse whose cases are proceeding through the Glasgow Domestic Abuse Court. Information is shared between our respective agencies on a daily basis to ensure victim safety is paramount and also to provide useful information to assist the progress of the prosecution and to inform the court at the sentencing stage. Mutual training has been provided and received between our agencies to improve understanding in this area.

DIVERSITY Representatives from each of the Divisions within the Glasgow Office sit on the Area Diversity Team. The team promotes equality relating to race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and religion and belief. The remit of the Team is to liaise and improve contracts with local communities and to discuss ways of maintaining that across all areas of diversity in Glasgow.

STAFFING South Division has a staff compliment of 74.5 members of staff. The Division is divided into 7 teams as noted below.

Summary Team Initial Case Processing Solemn Team Disclosure Team VIA Management Team Domestic Abuse Unit

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