Police awards: ‘So much is done by local beat officers’

We often think of these characters as being consigned to the history books by ever more sophisticated methods of fighting crime.

Today, for instance, we report on the use of cadavar dogs in the tragic search for the body of Suzanne Pilley.

Such ground-breaking techniques are always bound to grab our attention and stick in our imagination.

But today we also report on forward-looking plans to base a police officer in each of the city’s 23 high schools.

This really is back to the future stuff, designed to build good relationships between our police and young people.

Early intervention and preventative measures are the buzz words to describe it, but it really is just common sense.

The initiative will be welcomed by parents across the Capital, but it is not an isolated example of today’s police working in the community.

So much is done quietly every day by local beat officers to make life in the city more safe and secure.

Too often that good work is overlooked. That is why the Evening News has teamed up with Lothian and Borders Police to stage the Force Excellence Awards again this year.

Please help us recognise the work of some of Edinburgh’s unsung heroes. You can find full details of how to nominate your officer for their work on page 20.

Coffee mile

VisitORS to Morningside these days are likely to be greeted with a call of “you’ll have had your coffee”.

There are an incredible 57 different outlets on a one-mile walk from Comiston Road to the Bruntsfield Hotel where you can get your caffeine fix.

Little surprise then that news of yet another coffee shop opening – this time a Costa Coffee – does not fill local traders with joy.

And, as we have seen with Sainsbury’s move into Bruntsfield, the seemingly unstoppable march of the multi-nationals into once eclectic local shopping areas is guaranteed to provoke strong feelings.

Of course, customers will, at the end of the day, vote with their feet. Local traders will once again have to rise to the challenge of forcing a change in our shopping habits by offering a reason to body-swerve the big guns.

We hope they succeed because Morningside and so many other neighbourhoods would be much the poorer without their mix of independent shops.