FOLLOWING the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone sent condolences on behalf of Police Scotland to the Consul General, Mr Emmanuel Cocher, at the French Consulate in Edinburgh.

We are all shocked by these attacks and we are doing everything that can be done to support those who may be affected by these horrific events and helping in every way we can. Our sympathy and solidarity is with the people of France at this very difficult time.

Police Scotland is currently working with law enforcement colleagues in the UK and internationally to support this investigation and more broadly to counter the threat from terrorism.

The public should be confident that our priority is their safety and security; we want people to be alert but not alarmed.

We constantly review security plans, taking into account specific intelligence and the wider threat. The current overall threat level is severe, which means an attack is highly likely and the threat to the UK remains very real; this has been the same since August 2014. Whilst people in East Lothian remain safe in going about their day-to-day business with family, friends and colleagues, I would encourage everyone to remain vigilant, alert and avoid complacency.

We are constantly working with local partners to educate them about our counter-terrorism work, empowering them to be able to act and give support where required. Some of the partnership working focuses on ensuring that everyone living and working in the area is safe to go about their daily business and routines.

As recently as last week, discussions were held with East Lothian Council leads for education and vulnerable children and adults, NHS, Scottish Ambulance Service, universities and colleges and other partners about ensuring everyone understands the threat and risk alongside influencing factors of terrorism and radicalisation – and, importantly, what can be done to challenge these and ensure there is no place for terrorism to flourish in Scotland.

We are working closely with communities across the district who have, through their reaction to the Paris attack, collectively conveyed a very clear stance that Scotland must remain united against terrorism. Community cohesion in East Lothian is strong and the widespread condemnation of the attacks across our diverse communities is evidence of this.

That said, Police Scotland has investigated instances of crime since the events in Paris on Friday that have been motivated by religious hatred. These crimes have been both online and in public and arrests have been made.

There have been two hate-related offences in East Lothian since the events on Friday but they are not believed to be linked to events in Paris. Police Scotland will not tolerate any form of hate crime, and indeed in East Lothian there is a 93 per cent detection rate this year for all hate crimes reported.

I urge everyone here to continue working together to ensure that no one feels threatened or marginalised. If you have witnessed or been the victim of a hate crime, please tell us about this. You can contact Police Scotland by calling 101; however, in an emergency always dial 999, when a life is in danger, a crime is in progress or a suspect is nearby.