I HAVE always found gardening to be a good way of relaxing from the pressures of life and indeed policing.

There is something therapeutic about growing your own plants, flowers or vegetables, and battling to overcome the various elements and pests (let’s just say this year’s weather has presented more than a few challenges).

In my case, another challenge is trying to prevent ball games and other kids’ (alternatively viewed as pests depending on your view) activities from destroying your carefully nurtured plants.

The principles of gardening in encouraging the healthy growth of good plants and trying to eliminate pests or weeds are very similar to what we set out to do in policing and, through the summer months, although my officers have been busy attending various events such as gala days, the Scottish Open and, over the next fortnight, Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick, we have been equally busy executing warrants and trying to weed out those in our communities who are committing crime and causing harm and distress to others.

To give an example of this from the world of domestic abuse, in the last fortnight we have seen three prolific local domestic offenders remanded in custody pending trial following arrest, along with further arrests of several other individuals who have caused harm and suffering to their partners.

Domestic abuse in any form is intolerable and we will do all we can to make life as tough as possible for domestic abuse offenders.

To give you an idea of the work that goes into this, we are constantly on the lookout for those breaching bail conditions and have a regular regime of calling unannounced on known offenders to ensure they are abiding by conditions.

If you have any concerns over the relationship you have with someone, or indeed that of a friend, don’t forget the Domestic Abuse Disclosure Scheme whereby you can apply to find out if that person is a previous domestic offender. More details can be found at scotland.police.uk/advice-and-information/domestic-abuse/disclosure-scheme-for-domestic-abuse-scotland

Having talked about what and who we want to weed out, it would be remiss not to talk positively about behaviour we want to encourage.

I would like to pay tribute to those of you who go out of your way to support community and general wellbeing of children through the summer break. In this, I include all parents, carers and outreach supporters, as I know through personal experience that the summer holidays can seem a long time and can test even the most close of relationships between parents and children.

I am very appreciative of all your efforts to support and look after young people over the school holidays, which goes a long way to preventing them from coming into contact with the police.

Where unfortunately young persons have come into contact with my officers over the last few weeks, I have been impressed by the reaction of their parents and want to thank all parents and carers for their reaction to my earlier pleas for attention to what their young people are doing.

As one of my sergeants said to me as he finished his night shift this morning: “Only two weeks to go.” Schools will soon be back – in the meantime, please continue to encourage responsible behaviour and keep your young people safe.