POLICE in East Lothian say that 80 per cent of all incidents they attend do not involve crime.

A report to East Lothian Council on Tuesday revealed the vast majority of incidents involved helping the most vulnerable members of the community, from reports of missing persons to mental health incidents or children and young people at risk of harm.

Chief Inspector Matt Paden, local police commander, told councillors that early intervention and prevention was the key for local policing in East Lothian, with youth community officers working with schools to good effect.

He said: “It is an excellent model in East Lothian with a partnership approach to prevention.

“What the community officers are doing in the schools is entirely revealing benefits to the whole community and I continue to get positive feedback.”

Mr Paden was presenting the local police plan for the next three years to the council for approval.

It set out new challenges facing police, including the involvement in non-crime incidents and prevention work to tackle drug and alcohol issues, as well as protecting children and vulnerable adults.

Councillor Fiona O’Donnell asked the chief inspector about hate crime in the county and whether it was on the increase.

Mr Paden said: “There has been an increase in reports of hate crime but that is positive in a number of ways because it means people are reporting incidents.

“There was a huge amount of work done to raise awareness of people’s right to report incidents, including third-party reporting.”

Ms O’Donnell said: “I would like to see hate crime as a priority to raise awareness that people have the right to report it, whether it happens on the street, on public transport or anywhere.

“It is often not just crime that impacts on people’s lives, it is the fear of crime that leaves people affected unable to leave their homes.”

Councillor Willie Innes, council leader, emphasised that East Lothian was one of the safest places in Scotland.

He said: “The partnership we have with the police has worked well. The message from us all is that East Lothian is safe.”

The police report to the meeting of the full council, held in Haddington Town House, revealed that police in the county had been able to call in additional resources to help support a number of large-scale events such as last year’s Riding of the Marches festival in Musselburgh.

Councillors approved the local police plan for the next three years unanimously.

Mr Innes said: “East Lothian Council, through discussions and consultations with area partnerships, community councils, and residents’ and tenants’ groups, works closely with Police Scotland to address residents’ concerns.

“In recent years the safer communities team, working with Police Scotland, have successfully managed a number of anti-social behaviour issues which if unchecked can have a corrosive impact on our communities.

“National initiatives centring around alcohol and drug abuse have also resulted in improvements within our towns and villages but we recognise that we cannot be complacent.”