The police must get this new plan right

THE launch of the Policing 2026 review yesterday was akin to a large corporation unveiling an annual report. Contained within the glossy brochure – prepared with the help of costly outside consultants – was an exercise in crystal ball-gazing.

The strategy document did not mention the plan to cut officer numbers by 400, casting the SNP’s pledge to preserve police manpower onto the scrap heap. This proposal only emerged during a media briefing, when assurances were given that officers would be prised from administrative roles and redeployed to the frontline.

We were told that a combination of cuts and the changing nature of crime has forced a redesign of the service.

Chief Constable Phil Gormley inherited a mess from his predecessor, Sir Stephen House, when he took over the single force just over a year ago. The organisation has lurched between public relations catastrophes, mired in financial crisis. Mr Gormley is to be commended for looking to the future – after all, precious little planning was done ahead of the launch of the single force in 2013.

He is right to focus on the emerging threat of cyber-crime. But last week statistics showed a rise in murder, serious assault, robbery and rape – and a troubling drop in detection rates. This is hardly the ideal backdrop to convince the public we can do without hundreds of officers.

The SNP rushed into the creation of the single force with minimal planning – and turned our most prized public service into a vehicle for cutting costs.