Number of cops falls to 14-year low

THE number of police officers in Scotland has plunged to the lowest level in 14 years.

Figures show that at the end of June this year there were 16,570 officers in Scotland – the lowest level of manpower since 2008 when there were 16,526.

When the SNP came to power in 2007 Scotland had 16,234 officers. They campaigned with a now-ditched promise to increase police numbers by 1,000. Officer numbers increased to more than 17,000 in 2009, peaking at 17,496 in the first quarter of 2013. However, the current total is down by 662 since the end of September 2021.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘Police Scotland are haemorrhaging officers when the public need them most. Public safety should be the number one priority but the SNP have neglected our police with broken funding promises.

‘Sadly, ordinary people will pay the price for the SNP’s neglect, as we are already seeing with Scotland’s rising rates of violent crime.’

A senior police official warned last week that further budget cuts could turn the single force into a ‘quasi-paramilitary’ organisation, capable of tackling only the most serious incidents.

Budget cuts have sparked fears that up to 4,500 jobs could be axed to meet rising wage bills if real-term cuts to the justice budget go ahead.

Police Scotland is warning of a ‘flat cash settlement’ for the coming years – not protected from inflation. This could mean it either has to freeze pay or cut officer numbers. Last week, the leader of Scotland’s rank-and-file officers warned that to cut police numbers by a quarter will spark a rise in crime.

In the Scottish Police Federation’s submission to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, general secretary Calum Steele said: ‘Crime will increase, victims of crime will be let down, community confidence in the police will diminish... and the effectiveness of an already overburdened criminal justice system will leave many offenders unlikely to face any form of sanction.’

Nearly half of crimes were unsolved last year, including almost threequarters of housebreakings.

Overall crime detection rates fell from 59.3 per cent to 54 per cent between 2020-21 and 2021-22, according to official police figures.

The force’s deputy chief officer, David Page, told MSPs on the criminal justice committee that ‘very difficult decisions’ lie ahead. The future of the 101 non-emergency call service is also being questioned.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: ‘Coming against the backdrop of rising levels of sexual and violent crime, these figures will make for alarming reading.’

Figures obtained earlier by the Lib Dems showed that in the past five years 847 officers have quit Police Scotland after serving less than a decade with the force – with 438 serving just three years or less.

Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill admitted this year that the flagship SNP pledge to boost officer numbers by 1,000 was ‘plucked from thin air’. The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.