Hard-pressed police f ighting crime and cuts
Poster launches funding campaign
POLICE officers have launched a hard-hitting poster campaign in a bid to shame the Scottish Government into giving the force more funding. The posters mimic the famous Lord Kitchener Army recruitment poster from 1914, which urged Britons to sign up for military service.
The version produced by the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), representing rank-and-file officers, features its chairman Brian Docherty in the Lord Kitchener role, proclaiming: ‘Your police service needs you!’ with the claim: ‘Cuts are destroying policing’.
They will be sent to every police station to encourage officers to blow the whistle on the effect of budget cuts.
SPF insiders hope the move will ‘shame’ the SNP into providing much-needed funding following disclosures that bin bags have been rationed in police offices, while tea towels have been banned in an effort to save cash.
The SPF also claimed this week that a search for a potential housebreaker was abandoned to avoid incurring overtime costs. The Mail understands the force intranet advises personnel to report problems within the service rather than going to the SPF, to avoid more negative publicity.
A statement on the SPF’s website says: ‘These cuts are more than financial and are having a detrimental impact on the service the public is receiving. Police officers are exhausted; demand is relentless; policing is suffering, and public confidence is falling.’
According to the SPF, posters will be appearing in every police station and the organisation is urging all staff to help in ‘spreading the word’. They are told to ‘send us examples of police cuts you have seen and experienced – and how they are directly affecting the job we do’. A dedicated email address has been set up.
Police Scotland faces a financial £21.1million black hole this year. The expected revenue shortfall for 2016-17 amounts to almost three times the previous financial year’s £8.1 million deficit.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘Police Scotland was created on the basis it would be a more efficient organisation than the legacy forces. But that efficiency drive is turning to cuts which are threatening staffing levels and the service people receive.’
Asked about the claim officers had been told not to contact the SPF with their concerns, Police Scotland said it was encouraging staff to approach Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘The “Ask the Dep” [intranet] facility was set up to encourage officers and staff to ask questions of Mr Livingstone, who is leading the work around delivering on the budget.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Despite the challenges of implementing the most significant public sector reform since devolution, police officers serve our communities excellently.’