Police foot 122k bill for new boots
The footwear retails at £150 a pair
Hundreds of Ayrshire police officers are to be issued with new boots that normally retail at about £150 a pair.
The Yorkshire-made footwear, Altberg Peacekeeper P3s, are to be given to officers in the Ayrshire Division in a deal that could cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.
According to figures from December, there are approximately 816 police men and women in Ayrshire. That means the bill for a pair of new boots for all of them could top £122,000, although that figure does not take into account any potential discount for bulk orders.
Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain, divisional commander,
said the rollout of the boots would help “enhance” officer safety by “reducing operational injuries.”
He said on Twitter: “Delighted to see that my @AyrshirePolice colleagues will be issued with their operational patrol boots over the next few days. These boots will
enhance their safety by reducing operational injuries. Thank you to all those involved in the procurement and rollout.”
He also issued a picture of the boots ahead of the new rollout, and the image shows scores of boxes, that contain the new footwear. One
Twitter follower described them as ‘guid boots’ adding: “They are a little narrow fitting so don’t be too surprised if there are more than a few who end up needing the wider fit.”
Another said: “Excellent boots, which are extremely comfortable. I’m glad to see officers being issued with quality footwear.”
And one replied: “Cracking boots. Still got mine after 30+ years (been retired for 12 of those years!) Looked after them and got them re-soled and waterproofed by Altberg a couple of years ago. ‘They will outlast you now’, I was told by the cobbler!”
Police numbers are down 46 in Ayrshire since 2013, when Police Scotland was formed, falling from 862 in 2013 to 816 in Dec 2021.