Police Scotland have announced that dispersal zones across Edinburgh, one of which covers much of Wester Hailes, are set to take effect from 31 October 2025 for six days in an effort to tackle antisocial behaviour across the city.
South West Dispersal Zone 3 covers much of Wester Hailes including the Calders, Westburn, along Calder Road and Sighthill, and largs parts of Murrayburn and Hailesland, where there will be additional officers on patrol with powers to take action where needed. Legislation allows where a constable has reasonable grounds for believing that the presence or behaviour of a group of two or more persons in any public place in the relevant locality is causing or likely to cause alarm or distress to any members of the public, the constable may give:
- A direction requiring the persons in the group to disperse
- A direction requiring any of those persons whose place of residence is not within the relevant locality to leave the relevant locality or any part of the relevant locality
- A direction prohibiting any of those persons whose place of residence is not within the relevant locality from returning to the relevant locality or any part of the relevant locality during such period (not exceeding 24 hours) from the giving of the direction as the constable may specify
Anyone who fails to comply without reasonable excuse shall be guilty of an offence and will be arrested without warrant.
In addition to the dispersal zone, frontline officers in Edinburgh will be equipped with Body Worn Video, as the national roll-out of this technology continues. They hope this will improve opportunities to identify those involved in criminal activity during this time, including attacks on police officers and emergency service workers.
