Police Scotland has revealed it has made significant strides in tackling anti-social behaviour over the fireworks season, resulting in a 37 per cent drop in emergency calls between Halloween and Guy Fawkes’ Night.
Operation Moonbeam represents a significant collaborative effort to curb public disorder on Scottish streets, which has seen the roll-out of Section 60 dispersal orders and firework control zones in cities.
In 2024, the Edinburgh community of Niddrie was the site of a protracted stand-off between hundreds of officers and a mob of masked youths directing rockets at the thin blue line, resulting in roads being closed and public transport diverted.
Started in 2018, Operation Moonbeam has sought to reinforce community policing with targeted seizures of fireworks and steadily increasing the number of firework control zones in Glasgow and Edinburgh after the Scottish Parliament passed fresh legislation in 2023.
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Nine firework control zones were in operation in Edinburgh this year, with breaches carrying up to a six-month prison sentence and a £5,000 fine.
Three restriction zones were enforced in Glasgow for the first time, after Glasgow City Council missed the submission deadline in 2024.
With Operation Moonbeam drawing to a close on Thursday, Police Scotland made two arrests
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A sizeable uplift in the number of officers lining the streets of Edinburgh's control zones discouraged enough severe disorder to consider 2025’s Operation Moonbeam a success.
Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable, Tim Mairs, said his officers reported “a much quieter and calmer night”.
He told GB News: “At the heart of that, I would say, is our approach to community policing and the collaborative work we’ve undertaken, particularly in Edinburgh but all across Scotland.”
Mr Mairs also elaborated on the work of investigators and detectives, explaining: “On the run up to this night we seized over two-and-a-half tons worth of illegal fireworks which had a significant impact on people’s ability to cause disorder on the night.”
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Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs
His words of approval for the thousands of participating officers has been echoed by the leader of Edinburgh City Council, Jane Meagher, who represents Craigmillar and Niddrie.
She told GB News she was “really heartened” by the police's work this year.
“They’re supporting young people in particular not to divert from criminal activity,” she explains, describing a summit connecting young people with community police officers.
“That’s got to be for the benefit of everybody and it’s certainly worked in this case,” she said.
Despite the positive outcomes of boosting its targeted policing in Edinburgh, Police Scotland still has its work cut out across Scotland.
Bus services in Central Scotland were diverted and tower blocks in Glasgow were the target of youths aiming fireworks at windows several stories high.
Further west in Clydebank, fireworks were aimed at police cars while a bus window was smashed when a firework struck it in West Lothian.
With Operation Moonbeam drawing to a close at 1am on Thursday, Police Scotland had made two arrests, but a significant program of work will now begin to investigate reported incidents from around Scotland and identify those responsible.
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