Projects designed to protect people from domestic violence and fraud in West Lothian have been embraced by the community as police recorded an almost 50% increase in pleas for help in the last year.
The two schemes have provided reassurance in relationships and saved elderly or vulnerable people across the county thousands of pounds by highlighting potential scammers.
Community Sergeant Lee Brodie delivered his report for the last quarter of the year, January to March, to the Livingston South Local Area Committee.
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He told councillors: “Domestic abuse crimes is an area of focus in terms of providing confidence to report, undertaking professional investigations, providing victim support, pursuing perpetrators and managing offenders.
“The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) has two main approaches, the ‘Right to Ask’ and the ‘Power to Tell’. If it is appropriate, information is disclosed to the person concerned so they are able to make informed decisions about their personal safety.
"During the last quarter, there were 80 applications, and 250 for the year to date. This quarterly figure is a 42% increase on the same period last year and highlights the ongoing commitment to keeping people safe.”
He added: “It shows the scheme is being used effectively.”
On the banking protocol Sgt Brodie said: “We again promoted the banking protocol this quarter, through vigilance and in-house training, bank staff are in the ideal position to identify customers at risk and contact police with concerns.
“During the last quarter, [January to March this year] the protocol was activated 13 times, with approximately £26,580 prevented from reaching fraudsters. For the year to date approximately £114,580 has been saved for customers.”
Again these figures cover West Lothian rather than only the Livingston South ward.
The banking protocol in Scotland was launched in March 2018 and has seen bank staff being trained to spot the signs of a customer who may have fallen victim to a scam or who may be about to. Staff look out for customers seeking to move large sums of money to a new account, an overseas account or making unusual transactions while in the branch. The staff member can alert police and speak to the customer.
Since the launch millions of pounds have been saved from scammers. It was one of the few positives of the pandemic lockdown that there was a drop in in-person withdrawals of cash for fraudsters simply because people couldn’t go into their branch.
Many fraud victims are elderly who are persuaded to part with huge amounts of cash to pay for services or dubious trade work done on their homes.
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