Police drones will be used in the fight against anti-social behaviour in East Ayrshire this summer.
Cops will send up the high-tech flying devices, equipped with video surveillance, in public spots like parks and also plan to increase patrols.
Officers launched their annual summer campaign on Friday with locality inspector Iain Farmer, who's spearheading the initiative, remaining firm that the scheme is not about criminalising kids over the summer months.
Inspector Iain Farmer explained: "Following on from our Easter campaign, we'll be using drones to monitor the public parks to help us better identify youths carrying out anti-social crimes in those areas.
"The drones are flown by our air support unit and it's a great tactic because the drones have the same capability as the helicopters. There is also video and clear images that help us see if any criminality is going on.
"One of the biggest gripes I get is of older people not feeling safe going into the town centre because there are youths congregating while under the influence.
"It's unfortunate because it's a small minority who are carrying out criminal acts.
"But we are not here to criminalise kids, I can't emphasise that enough.
"Our whole purpose is to educate kids about the vulnerable positions they may be putting themselves in and keep everyone safe.
"We've had great engagement on our social media from concerned residents asking about the potential collateral intrusion of using drones and I want to reassure our community about their concerns.
"This is a policing tactic that has been fully endorsed and I've carried out a community impact assessment. It has the same capability as a helicopter which the police have been using since the 80s.
"I continue to welcome any questions and I'm confident this will be a successful campaign."
The East Ayrshire Police division also launched its bottle marking scheme to identify where youths are buying booze.
On the day, police were joined by the Scottish Fire Rescue Service (SFRS), partners of East Ayrshire Council, alcohol and drug dependant team, Vibrant Communities, charities, and invited elected members.
"I'm so pleased to be working in partnership with the SFRS and vibrant communities," Inspector Farmer added.
"Vibrant communities have an excess of 400 planned activities for youngsters over the summer - so there is no need to say there isn't anything for the kids to do in our area.
"This is a vibrant community and we want to maintain that and work with our partners to educate, keep everyone safe, and have a fun summer."
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