Su Successes and blunders

POLICE SCOTLAND was formed on April 1 last year when the eight regional Scottish forces were merged into a single national force.

Tayside now has four policing areas — Angus, Dundee North, Dundee South, and Perth and Kinross — witwith four chief inspectors in charge. Fife has seven policing areas, including Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline. The areas comprise 12 local sections, headed by local inspectors, and these are made up of 28 ward areas.

The new single force is expected to deliver oover £1 billion in savings oover the next 10 years, but only last week it was announced that there will be a £10m shortfall in savings for the next financial year.

One of its notable local successes has been millions of pounds of drugs seized across Tayside — with one raid in Dundee netting more than £400,000 worth of cocaine.

A nnew national crackdown on domestic violence has also seen a huge rise in the number of offenders appearing in courts across Courier Country.

But the much-touted interdivisional cooperation and shared intelligence has not been without its pitfalls.

Last summer we revealed that officers launched an appeal to trace stolen war memorial plaques five days after they were handed in to a police station in Fife.

Police Scotland spent a week searching for the plates prised from the memorial in Milnathort, issued public appeals and even backed a kind-hearted reward of £1000 before they realised they were in their possession.

Between April and the end of August last year a total of 1,235 policing hours were lost because of the time it took officers from Strathclyde’s Licensing and Violence Reduction Unit to travel to and from the east coast.

Time that bobbies could have spent on the beat was lost because officers were being moved around the country to “share best practice”.

There was also criticism after The Courier revealed Police Scotland axed its use of airborne volunteers to assist in high-profile operations.

Before the single service was introduced, volunteer pilots from the charity patrol service regularly helped search for missing people.

Last month Police Scotland confirmed that many police station front counters across Courier country were to close.

Across Tayside, there will now be no counter provision at Auchterarder, Blairgowrie, Brechin, Carnoustie, Crieff, Kinross and Montrose.

In Dundee, only Bell Street HQ, Lochee and Downfield will retain a counter service, with offices in Longhaugh and Maryfield closing.

In Fife, Anstruther, Auchtermuchty, Burntisland, Cardenden, Oakley and Tay Coast will shut.

Last week the Scottish Police Federation launched a major campaign to improve the force’s image in Scotland, commissioning three short films to show the challenges officers face.