| Head of CID Detective Chief Inspector Shaun McKillop assurances follow comments by Lochee councillor Tom Ferguson, who last night warned that the knifepoint mugging of a 22-year-old woman in Charleston Drive on Sunday night proved there was “obviously some problem someone is missing in the area”.
Cllr Ferguson said he was alarmed by the latest incident, which comes exactly one week after the stabbing of a man in a bin recess at a block of flats in nearby Tweed Crescent.
But DCI McKillop stressed there was nothing to suggest the two incidents were linked, and that the results of police searches showed that neither the city, nor any specific area of the city, had a problem with people carrying blades.
But he added that more officers were now on the beat in the Menzieshill and Charleston areas, and that a greater number of searches were being carried out.
“I would stress that we don’t have a significant knife problem in Dundee, or in any area of Dundee,” he said.
“Since the start of April we’ve conducted close to 2000 searches of persons to ensure that they are not carrying weapons. Of all those searches only 2.6% — or 52 searches — have turned up any kind of bladed instrument. That’s a very low figure and there’s a lot of activity to ensure that we keep on top of that.
“We’re increasing the number of searches we are doing where there are areas with reports of knife crime and we also look to speak to members of the community if they have any concerns in relation to knife crime.
“In terms of the Menzieshill area, I would stress that we’ve had two separate incidents with nothing at all to link them together.
“They are both being investigated in full and we would appeal to anyone that knows anything about these incidents to get in touch or speak to their local officers.”
He said the force had garnered “good responses” from the community, through house-to-house inquiries and forensic work.
“What we have to be clear of is that any incident which involves a knife, and people being threatened or assaulted by a knife, is taken very seriously,” DCI McKillop said.
“We do take any allegation of that nature very, very seriously and we will look to investigate each incident as fully as we can.”
Cllr Ferguson last night demanded a crackdown on knife crime in the area, calling for the problem to be “nipped in the bud”.
“I think there is obviously some problem that somebody is missing in the area,” he said.
“I have got sources like everybody else and what they are telling me about the first one (stabbing) is that it is not a one-off.
“I will be contacting the police tomorrow to find out what they are going to do about it this situation as it is alarming. We have got to try and get this stopped — it needs nipped in the bud immediately.” |
