Speaking one year after the formation of Police Scotland, which involved eight regional forces merging into one, Chief Superintendent Barry McEwan echoed comments made by Chief Constable Sir Stephen House who has been forced to defend the use of stop and search amid accusations that some statistics are made up by police officers who are under pressure to deliver set targets.

On Sunday, Sir Stephen House accused a Sunday newspaper of “misrepresenting” him in an article it published the weekend before.

In a letter printed at the weekend he said the majority of figures relating to stop and search were correct and that he had seen “no evidence” of figures being made up.

Critics claim the method is target-driven and fails to deliver results in an efficient manner, but the chief constable insists officers are not set individual targets and that stop and search is one of a number of policing tactics officers use to remove knives, drugs and alcohol, from our streets.

That’s a view shared by Chief Inspector McEwan, the divisional commander for West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute who is responsible for the area’s local policing strategy.

He told the Reporter: “Stopping and engaging with the public and talking to the public and understanding the public is vital to what we do. When it is proportionate and justified and we believe it is right and proper we will search somebody because that is a bread and butter tactic.

“The keystone to every stop and search in this division is that we are in the right place at the right time and dealing with the right people. There are no targets in relation to stop and search numbers. The target for me is simply to keep people safe. I want to reduce violence and disorder and in doing so I will make sure my officers engage with people and search people where appropriate.

“I can also assure you that any time our officers do stop and search somebody they do so with our values and ethics to the fore. That means they deal with people fairly and with respect and due integrity at all times.” Speaking to the Reporter inside the Dumbarton headquarters, Chief inspector McEwan described the transition the force has experienced over the past 12 months as one of “historic change” but he is convinced the organisation has managed the adjust in an way that has made the impact on the service it provides to the public negligible.

“We’ve done it an organised fashion in order to ensure we continue to meet the needs of the public,” he said. “We are in a time of austerity but as the local policing commander what I have found is that I have always had a sufficient resource to manage local policing.” The evidence that the force is continuing to deliver is there for all to see, according to area commander Calum Young, who was eager to highlight the numbers that he says prove it’s business as usual as far as day-to-day operations are concerned.

He said: “When you look across my sub division, which is one of the busiest sub divisions in the west of Scotland, we’ve seen violent crime come down by almost a third in the past year and house-breaking fall by 33 percent during the same period.

“Detection rates for domestic crime was at 79 per cent and the figures show there were 21 fewer serious assaults which amounts to less people ending up in hospital, less families being involved with the police, less people going to court and less people suffering serious injuries.

“There is a lot of really good work going on and we are trying to improve that further by working with our partners and other agencies to make West Dunbartonshire a safer place.” Chief inspector McEwan added: “It’s thanks to individuals like Calum, the officers and detectives and our partners, and the commitment and the endeavour they put into West Dunbartonshire that allows us to achieve those results.

“If it wasn’t for working with the local authority, housing the fire service, Y-sort It and other diversionary groups we could not function. The support we get from elected members is second to none. We are supported in everything we do but, of course, we are challenged and held accountable through the scrutiny committees and asked to justify everything we do. A year in and I’m sitting here and saying we’re down 30 per cent in serious violent crime for the whole of Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire which amounts to roughly 50 less victims of serious crime.

“We’ve recorded 90 per cent detection rates so for me it’s been a good year, a successful year and, thanks to the support we get from the community, we go out there and police by consent every single day of the week.”