Now police say they’ll tackle ‘Star Wars’ crime
A NEW era of ‘Star Wars’ policing where officers patrol cyberspace and move away from traditional crime-fighting was heralded yesterday by Scotland’s chief constable.
Police Scotland boss Phil Gormley said in future there may be less focus on tackling cases of ‘acquisitive crime’ – theft – as criminals turn increasingly to technology.
The rise of trolling, spreading abuse online, internet fraud and blackmail and child pornography mean police will have to move into what he called the ‘third dimension’ of people’s lives.
But last night there was concern that this could result in force bosses giving lesser priority to the crimes which blight neighbourhoods around Scotland such as housebreaking.
The fundamental re-think of the way police operate was outlined by Mr Gormley as he addressed the annual meeting of the Association of Scottish
‘People are living their lives online’
Police Superintendents (ASPS) in Kincardine, Fife.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘The police are clearly playing catch-up with criminal activity increasingly being organised on social media or mobile devices and apps. The police have to invest in this area but can’t forget their traditional duties, as we still need to see police on the streets.’
Mr Gormley said that 30 years ago there was no concept of policing ‘private space’ because officers tended to stay out of domestic violence, cases of marital rape and even child abuse within families.
Now officers have prioritised such offending and are prepared to ‘police people’s homes’ – and the next step will be effective policing of the internet.
Mr Gormley said: ‘As we move forward [we will have to police] that third dimension – which sounds a bit Star Wars – people are living their lives online and what does policing by consent look like there?
‘What intrusion are they prepared to surrender or accept in return for the security that law enforcement can legitimately supply? It’s not for us to determine the answers, that’s for politicians and the public to come to their own views.’
Mr Gormley said there will have to be a ‘big conversation over the next five to ten years’ with the public. This could pave the way for calls for police to have greater powers to snoop on personal communications in an effort to crack down on criminals and terrorists, raising fears over the threat to civil liberties.
Brian Docherty, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, representing rank-and-file officers, said: ‘Mr Gormley was right to raise these issues as there is no doubt that the nature of policing is changing and we need to be able to meet those challenges.
‘But there is also a debate about whether we have the resources to do that at a time of restricted budgets – and the public will always be rightly concerned about maintaining a police presence on the streets to catch criminals.’
Meanwhile Niven Rennie, outgoing ASPS president, warned that the public must get used to a diminished standard of service from Police Scotland because of dwindling budgets. He said that the public could not in the future expect a swift response for ‘minor’ crimes such as vandalism.
Mr Rennie said ‘if that means withdrawing from certain areas of service delivery then so be it other agencies will require to take up the slack as necessary’.
He added: ‘It’s not what any of us want to see but a dose of realism is required. Failure to address this issue just leaves us spreading the thin blue line even thinner and asking fewer people to do even more.’
But Tory MSP Mr Ross said: ‘These comments highlight all that is wrong with the single police force in Scotland.
‘Ever since it was introduced, under the SNP, the public have faced a diminishing police serv- ice... the taxpayer deserves far better.’
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, addressing conference delegates, said the force had to learn to recognise mistakes to allow them to leave ‘baggage’ behind and move on.
Mr Matheson said policing ‘is now under the watchful eye of the media in a way that was never there before; it’s under greater public and parliamentary scrutiny and I recognise the effect that can have on morale’.
But he added: ‘When in policing things go wrong it’s extremely important we’re open and honest about where the errors have been made, and we’re big enough and professional enough to recognise that, where mistakes have been made, we are prepared to learn those lessons.’
Yesterday, Mr Gormley also denied rumours that he may have quit. He said: ‘It’s probably wishful thinking on somebody’s part.’
‘The taxpayer deserves better’