Coffee With a Cop sessions planned for Thurso and Wick

Police officers in Caithness have reported "positive feedback" since starting a programme of drop-in events allowing members of the public to raise concerns or seek advice.

The sessions are called Coffee With a Cop and the next two will be taking place in Thurso and Wick on December 7 and 12 respectively.

Constable Matthew Thain from Wick Police Station said: “The community in Caithness told us that they wanted more opportunities to talk to us about local concerns and that there was a strong appetite for police to run a programme of drop-in sessions in various locations in the county.

"Coffee With a Cop is a format that is used across Scotland and is an opportunity for anyone to come and speak with a local officer about anything that matters to them. It could be to share concerns about criminality in their community, to get advice about an issue or just to find out more about policing in the local area.

"We had some positive feedback at our last session in Wick and will be looking at more dates in the new year."

The next two Coffee With a Cop sessions in Caithness are on Thursday, December 7, at the Ormlie Centre in Thurso (11.30am to 1.30pm) and on Tuesday, December 12, at Caithness House in Wick (also 11.30am to 1.30pm).

Further dates will be announced in 2024.

In July this year the Pulteney Centre in Wick played host to a public event looking at how confidence in policing can be improved.

Under the title Community Confidence Action Research, it formed part of research being carried out by the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland in locations around the country.

A Caithness Community Update newsletter is now available online.

Members of the public can sign up to the Neighbourhood Watch Scotland alerts system to be sent new editions of the newsletter, along with crime alerts, prevention campaigns, community issues and advice from Police Scotland and others.