Only root and branch reform can hope to reverse Scotland’s crisis in policing
What an interesting splash regarding falling police numbers (7 November). That this is front page news should not surprise anyone. Ask any member of the Scottish public about police numbers and they will tell you they never or rarely see an officer in their street, let alone their towns.
It has been evident since before 2010 that there was a crisis in policing; that is why the Scottish Government sought votes by increasing the number of police in Scotland. The Scottish Government of the day, realising that the Labour Westminster Government had set about reducing police numbers across England and Wales, wanted to score political advantage over Labour in Scotland by pledging to increase police numbers. That they did increase the actual number of police officers in the short term is not disputed. Unfortunately, the Scottish Government then decided to create the disaster for policing that is Police Scotland and have failed to maintain their pledge. This is not criticism of the many excellent police officers who struggle to provide the best service they can but an illustration as to how policing has become a political football.
We should not take any lectures from the Labour Party on this topic either; they are right to say, “you can’t keep people safe on the cheap” but, certainly in England and Wales, the deterioration in Policing most certainly began during Gordon Brown’s premiership. The time surely has come for some root and branch reform of policing in Scotland; that the public are being short-changed is surely not in dispute and despite the fine words of the Deputy Chief Constable, we need more than a workforce described as “agile and flexible”. Indeed, it would be nice to see some staffing levels in our communities that are inflexible.
The Parliamentary Justice Committee is currently examining the consequences of the creation of Police Scotland – is it too much to hope that they actually look at the failings of local policing across the whole of Scotland.
LW TURNBULL Edderston Road, Peebles