Cuts could wipe out entire police division

SNP cuts to police numbers are the equivalent of wiping out an entire local division of officers, Scottish Labour can reveal.

The Scottish Police Authority has proposed axing up to 1,176 full time roles – far more than the average local division size of 974.

These are truly shocking figures. Plans to cut more than 1,000 officers are the equivalent of losing an entire division of local officers and then some more. That is simply unacceptable.

People across Scotland are already seeing fewer police officers on the beat – and these planned cuts will only make that situation worse.

The SNP’s commitments on police numbers have now been exposed for what they are – all spin and no substance.

While SNP ministers maintained police officers, they sacked civilian staff and made officers who should be on the frontline do their jobs.

The foolishness of that policy has now been exposed. Labour would make different choices: rather than cutting officers, we would ensure they are on the frontline where they belong.

The revelation comes after just 43 per cent of people in Scotland said they were aware of their area being patrolled regularly, down nearly 10 percentage points from the previous year. Just under 50 per cent of people also reported local policing levels were“not enough”in the same survey.

Preventing crime can’t be done on the cheap and the Scottish Government should ensure that people feel safe in their communities.

The SNP may say that crime has fallen and that the nature of crime is changing.

However, we have also heard that many crimes are not being reported and even if they are, they are not being investigated properly.