The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
New police force hit by exodus of officers
Reforms: Payment changes under new single force blamed for departures
EXPERIENCED police officers in the north-east are quitting the new Police Scotland to take up jobs in other industries.
Changes to pensions and the move to the single force are said to be behind the departures, with many former officers known to have taken up key positions in the oil and gas sector.
The rate of departure in the old Grampian Police area is much higher than the rest of Scotland due to the lucrative jobs on offer in the offshore industry.
Now, Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone has called on Police Scotland and the Scottish Government to act quickly to rectify the matter.
Figures obtained through Freedom of Information legislation show that A&B division, which covers City, Aberdeenshire and Moray, lost 80 officers last year, including 17 after the creation of the Scottish force on April 1.
Concerns have been raised over the strength of the “thin blue line” given the departure of mid-service officers, in many cases to avoid punitive changes to their pension pots. Graham Sloan, of the Scottish Police Federation in Aberdeen, which represents rank and file officers, said: “There are two things at play here. You have what is happening with pensions and then there is the restructuring.
“For me, pensions are the key here.
“Pensions changes and move to the single force are behind departures”
Police officers pay some of the highest percentage contribution rates into their pensions across the public sector. For many officers this will mean paying more than £400 a month into a pension with no additional benefit.
“Suddenly, we have seen far larger numbers of mid-service officers leave to pursue other job opportunities.
“Of course, that is not something that is completely unique to Aberdeen, but
when I have had discussions with colleagues across the country they are not seeing the same number leave.”
Mr Sloan added: “Clearly, there are not the same job opportunities in other parts of Scotland as there are in Aberdeen and the oil companies are latching on to the fact that police officers have a large number of transferable skills.
“I am aware of officers who have left the service taking up posts in the oil industry, in health and safety roles or as project managers.”
The leaving rates for the first six months of the year are broadly in line with the figures for the whole of 2012, when 69 officers left the division. In the first half of 2013, a total of 24 officers left to move into other employment – just one short of the combined figure for 2011 and 2012.
Mr Johnstone, Tory MSP for North East Scotland, said that Police Scotland and the Scottish Government had to take action.
He said: “These statistics clearly demonstrate that Police Scotland is haemorrhaging senior staff to other industries, and it has to act on that. There are several worrying aspects to this. Among these is the suggestion that it is someof our most experienced officers whoare leaving to take up other positions and the fact that the situation has worsened with the advent of the single force, which may indicate a significant confidence issue about the future policing in Scotland.”
“The fact is that the Scottish Government must look into this exodus as a matter of urgency, get to the bottom of it, and stem the flow.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Police officers will leave the service for a number of reasons including retirement, seeking employment elsewhere and for reasons related to professional standards.
“Police Scotland is committed to ensuring that the number of police officers is maintained above 17,234. We will always closely manage and monitor both our intake of new recruits and the level of people leaving the service.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The recruitment and retention of police officers is rightly a matter for Police Scotland.
“Less than 10 months on from the successful transition to the new single police service, the benefits of reform are already being felt.
“This is the most ambitious reform in a generation and places Scotland at the vanguard of international and UK policing, while protecting officer numbers – which are more than 1000 higher than they were in 2007 – from Westminster cuts.
“The Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority are continuing to work together to maintain the strong, visible police presence across Scotland which is supporting a 39-year low in crime.”