Drugs, violence and racism: A week in Glasgow city centre
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Videos of brutal beatings, blatant drug deals, and racial violence in the centre of Scotland's biggest city have become a common sight on social media.
Posts claim that parts of Glasgow's city centre are a "no-go zone" where it's not safe for unsuspecting members of the public, especially women, to enter.
Angry protests have spilled on to the streets - but is it as bad as some say?
For a week in June, BBC Disclosure filmed in the city centre to see for ourselves.
We captured people openly dealing and taking drugs, as well as thefts, arrests, and even a brawl involving young men throwing traffic cones at a man with a dog.
A taxi driver who regularly drives into the area told us so many people were off their head on drugs and that it was sometimes like the "zombie apocalypse".
And a convenience store manager said he was racially abused at least 20 times a day and his shop was under constant attack from drug addicts.
This all played out just a stone's throw away from the famous Central Station, where many tourists are first welcomed to Glasgow.
Disclosure investigates claims that parts of Scotland’s biggest city have become a no-go zone because of crime, homelessness and antisocial behaviour.
Watch on iPlayer Crime and anti-social behaviour in the city centre have become such an issue that earlier this year police were given special powers to temporarily ban people from the hotspot area around St Enoch Square and the infamous Four Corners.
More than 1,500 notices have been issued since the introduction of the "dispersal zone" in March but the problems in the city centre persist.
Most evenings as we were filming there was a visible police presence - but one night, when there were few officers around, we saw a group of young men throwing traffic cones at a man who responded by chasing them with his dog.
Later, our film crew were verbally abused and threatened by a group of young men hanging around near the shopping centre.
It was an intimidating atmosphere and it made us consider what it must be like for someone vulnerable walking on their own.
Last year, according to freedom of information requests made by the BBC, there were more than 400 violent assaults in the main streets and square at the heart of the dispersal zone.
Kip Lawson was beaten so badly his lip was ripped open and he lost part of a front tooth.
He says he was approached by a group of drunk white men while walking home at night.
"I had never been involved in a violent altercation and then suddenly, you're getting battered," Lawson says.
Just four months later, he says he was assaulted again, this time by a black man who attacked him for his phone.
"I can't even walk through my gorgeous town without feeling like something bad is going to happen," he says.
According to another BBC FOI request, since 2023 police have recorded almost 2,800 crimes on Union Street alone.
Faisal Umar manages a 24-hour convenience store on the street, which sits in the heart of the dispersal zone.
He told BBC Scotland News his shop was regularly robbed by drug addicts or young kids and he constantly faced racist abuse.
Across the road from his shop is a hotel that houses homeless people, one of three such places within a very small area.
Many of the residents are addicts, and dealers use underage kids to sell drugs to them.
"This street is the hub of drug dealers and the police know this," Umar says.
But he says because the dealers are under age the police can't do anything.
"It's just a routine of every day, we need to call the police and they come and say: 'What can we do?'," he adds.
As part of our time in the city centre, we went on patrol with the police.
PC Steven Gemmell confirmed there was "a lot of child exploitation" and the young people involved in drug-running rarely saw the inside of a cell.
Instead, he says they carry small amounts of drugs at any one time and come up with creative ways to avoid being hit with a possession charge.
Gemmell says: "If they have a few wraps of drugs, a lot of the time they'll conceal it in their mouth.
"So, if I walk up to someone tonight, maybe one of the younger dealers, they'll noticeably swallow.
"It's a risk they're willing to take even if that bursts in their stomach."
Sure enough, later in the week, a dealer sold drugs right in front of our cameras, licking the wraps out of his inner lip before handing them out to a buyer.
During our time in the city centre, we witnessed other transactions on the streets that appeared to be drug deals.
Darren Docherty, leader of vigilante group Scots Active, says drugs are being openly sold by what he calls "new people", though he does not define exactly who he means by this.
Critics say Scots Active's members are racist and far-right extremists.
Many wear balaclavas as they patrol the city centre streets.
They deny it is to intimidate but say it is to protect themselves and their families.
Docherty, who chooses not to cover his face when out on patrol, denies to the BBC that he is a racist but confirms his group often clash with young black and Asian drug dealers in the city centre.
"They don't like us patrolling the area because we expose them selling their drugs," he says.
Police Scotland are not required to record the ethnicity of suspects in crime reports, therefore a breakdown is not available.
In recent years, Glasgow has accepted more asylum seekers than anywhere in the UK, as part of a Home Office scheme.
However, once they are granted refugee status, support from the UK government stops and many turn to the council for assistance, ending up in temporary or homeless accommodation.
"It's nothing other than two cultures do not align, and that's what's causing a lot of friction," Docherty says.
He says this has led members of Scots Active to join recent anti-immigration demonstrations that turned violent.
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