The model of policing in Scotland is broken
I read with incredulity that there is pressure to reduce the manpower of Police Scotland (Scotsman, 12 December). The centralisation of Police Scotland by the Scottish Government has been an abject failure. The increased politicisation of the police has stripped this service of its connections to the population it is supposed to serve. We have seen officer numbers decline in our towns and cities coupled with a catastrophic failure of the 101 reporting system.
It is obvious that if the 101 system is broken, which it is, then if the public cannot get through to submit complaints, crime and incident numbers will fall. This is then used as a justification to reduce manpower.
As chairman of our community council, I have received numerous complaints from residents regarding the inability of the police to respond to incidents and complaints. The Scottish Borders Council has invested over £500k to support two policing teams, ostensibly to address additional problems that normal, everyday, policing cannot. This demonstrates that there are insufficient police resources for everyday policing. I know that the nature of policing has changed, there is more cyber crime and organised criminality, but we cannot escape the fact that there are increasing levels of anti-social behaviour and other criminality that blights lives.
I have raised these issues repeatedly with senior police managers, to no avail. I understand their predicament; they have to toe the line and pre - tend that all is well. Clearly it is not. Indeed there is a real danger that Police Scotland will lose the support of the public as they become more distant.
These criticisms of Police Scotland are not an attack on our local officers who are doing their best under increasingly difficult circumstances, it is the model of policing that is broken. The rot has to stop and this can only be achieved by the Scottish Government providing the resources that Police Scotland requires to provide an adequate service. If basic policing cannot provide the safety and security that people require to enable them to have happy and fulfilled lives free of being frightened to walk down our high streets and through our parks, then what is the point of policing?
LW TURNBULL Edderston Road, Peebles