Visitors looking to get drunk and cause havoc in Balloch Park could be stopped before they even get to the beauty spot with cops monitoring who gets on trains to the village.
As part of an ongoing effort to stop boozed-up revellers on a day trip ruining the park for locals, officers based here and British Transport Police are working together to spot the groups enroute, on CCTV, and hamper their efforts.
Despite by-laws prohibiting drinking on trains, as well as in the park, Area Commander, Chief Inspector Ryan McMurdo told the Lennox it is at the root of ongoing problems.
Earlier this month, police launched a crackdown on the problem.
But just a week later, three teens were stabbed in a fight on the train and parts of the park were trashed by louts who left empty bottles and rubbish and plastered graffiti across vital safety signs.
Now CI McMurdo, who was raised in Westcliff, says it’s personal, as he vowed not to let up on those who come to Balloch Park and cause trouble.
CI McMurdo, who returned to the area last summer having previously worked in Glasgow tackling serious organised crime, lives locally and is a former Balloch resident.
He said he understands the fear locals can experience when faced by rowdy groups of teenagers in the park making him more determined than ever to stamp it out - with his family watching his every move.
He said: "Knowing the communities and people in them as I do, focuses my determination to address local issues and make the community a safer and better place to live. I want that to be my legacy here. Specifically around Balloch Park.
"I frequently visit the park with my family and have witnessed ASB first hand. This provides me with a real appreciation of the concerns raised by the local community and a desire and determination to do something about it. I have been and will continue to join my local policing teams in patrolling the park."
Key to tackling the issue of drinking in the park is stopping people getting there with booze.
Chief Inspector Christopher Shields from British Transport Police explained the work being done .
He said: “We monitor services on the line to Balloch, which runs right out to Glasgow’s East End, and has branch lines from the North of Glasgow.
“It’s very important that we have an idea of who is coming in. “We’re tied in through Scotrail’s CCTV systems so we know who is travelling from where.
“That can then be fed into the supervisor in the park so they know what they will be dealing with.
“As a force we do our level best to get as much alcohol off people as we can.”
Operation Ballaton was launched earlier this summer, and pulls together a host or resources to provide a connected response from Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, British Transport Police, West Dunbartonshire Council, Argyll and Bute Council, the National Park authority and Scotrail.
The Lennox Herald joined Local CI Ryan McMurdo, Chief Inspector Christopher Shields of British Transport Police, Communities Inspector Morven Sutherland, partnerships Inspector Bart Simonis and town centre officer PC Paul Campbell at Balloch Park last week, to see first hand the work ongoing to prevent the area becoming a no-go area for locals during warm weather.
“We are totally focused on working with our partners to help ensure that our world famous tourist spots remain safe places to visit and enjoy for everyone, local people and tourists” explains Ryan as we walk along the lochside.
“We know that this is a very popular area, particularly in the sunny weather, and we are continuing to work to ensure that it remains a safe one for people to visit and enjoy” he continues.
“By having a visible presence we hope to reassure people that it’s a safe one, and we hope that people will be able to enjoy themselves but also look out for each other.
“It’s a fine line to tow, and members of the public may see an increased police presence in the park - especially during spells of good weather - but we hope they realise that this is for their own safety.
“We have been extensively planning our response and will continue to have a presence in our parks and communities over the summer months.
“The focus of the partnership is to reduce the impact of anti-social behaviour, alcohol consumption and to promote water safety by providing a robust, proportionate and effective response.”
Ryan admits that alcohol is the single biggest factor behind incidents of anti-social behaviour in the park, with officers now patrolling the station, entry to the park and nearby stores selling booze.
He continued: “Alcohol is one of the biggest drivers of anti-social behaviour in the park.
“There are bylaws in place which prevent the consumption of it in public places.
“And we have been very clear that anti-social behaviour which spoils the experiences of everyone else is something that will not be tolerated.
“From talking to people we are already getting feedback that Balloch is becoming less popular with the sort of groups that we want to avoid seeing in the area, and that is because of the measures that we have put in place.”
Key to that is the work of British Transport Police (BTP), who are in constant communication with police on the ground in Balloch - alerting them of incoming revellers who could cause issues, and preventing alcohol being taken to the area.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Operation Ballaton is a multi-agency partnership approach which pulls together a host or resources to provide a coordinated response from Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, British Transport Police, West Dunbartonshire Council, Argyll and Bute Council, National Park and Scotrail within popular tourist locations in and around Loch Lomond and its surrounding communities.
“The focus of this partnership is to reduce the impact of anti-social behaviour, alcohol consumption and promote water safety by providing a robust, proportionate and effective response.
“Working with our partners helps maximise our capabilities to ensure that our world famous tourist spots remain safe places to visit and enjoy.”
Multi-agency approach is key
Chief Inspector Christopher Shields of BTP explained more about the importance of working alongside other agencies in targeting anti-social behaviour in Balloch.
“I think the key to this is the joint approach,” he said.
“We’ve seen the successes of this in other areas, particular in Ayrshire where we run Operation Safer Shores which is similar to Ballaton” said CI Shields.
Work with Scotrail to monitor those getting on trains and swoop on people bring alcohol is a vital part of the crackdown.
CI Shields added: “We’re looking to reinforce the message that there are alcohol byelaws in place. You’re not allowed alcohol on trains in Scotland at all. We will have officers present, you will be challenged on it and it will be removed from you.
“The vast majority of people who come down here do so to enjoy the sun and enjoy the place responsibly. It’s just that minority that we need to keep an eye on.
“We’re talking about large number of people coming from different areas, you can see where the friction can develop quite quickly.
“We work really closely with Ryan’s team.
“They let us know who is returning from park, Scotrail’s Travel Safe team work well and it’s a very strong joint effort.”
And he has urged travellers who feel uncomfortable on services, or witness anti-social behaviour, to text BTP about any issues they experience.
“We utilise our resources from all over Scotland for where we’ve identified that the threat, harm and risk is.
“We put our teams on trains and at stations throughout the network in an attempt to minimise.
“The last thing we want is people being stranded on trains or not feeling safe.
“We are very proactive and are doing our best to minimise it.
“We have our text number, 61016, and I would urge anyone who experiences any anti-social behaviour or criminality on the railways to report it.”
It isn’t just tackling anti-social behaviour that the partnership is responsible for, with CI McMurdo and his team passionate about water safety.
In 2022 there were no deaths in Loch Lomond, following the tragic deaths of four people in 2021 and 12-year-old Lennox Primary pupil Ava Gray in 2020. Ava got into difficulty in the River Leven.
Communities Inspector Morven Sutherland said that increased awareness around water safety in schools, through the high profile Partnership Approach to Water Safety (PAWS) introduced in 2021.
The model used – which was a joint partnership between West Dunbartonshire Council, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – has now been so successful it was rolled out across the country.
Ava’s family campaigned tirelessly for this in a bid to help save lives and so Ava’s death was not in vain - and education is proving vital.
Inspector Sutherland said: “We know a story of a child who was playing in Loch Lomond last summer, when they saw a swimmer drowning.
“They immediately alerted their aunt who they were with, and emergency services managed to save the swimmer.
“When asked afterwards, the child had said they recognised the signs of someone drowning from a presentation they’d been shown at school just a week earlier.
“That one life saved makes it all worthwhile, but it’s worth remembering that that’s only one example that we know of.
“There may well be others.”
