Scotland left exposed to organised crime and extremism after officer cuts, warns Federation
Police officer cutbacks are leaving Scotland exposed to organised crime, extremism and terrorism, the Scottish Police Federation has warned.
The Federation said a breakdown in community policing is eroding “crucial” intelligence gathering.
The warning comes amid a raft of challenges facing the national force, with a decrease in full-time officers to the lowest level in 15 years, plans to close 29 local stations, a policy of not investigating some ‘minor’ crimes, and the impact of resourcing new hate crime legislation.
The Scottish government said Police Scotland received “record” funding of £1.55 billion for 2024/25, an increase of £92.7 million.
But the latest edition of justice publication 1919 Magazine, published on Tuesday (April 10), highlights fears that the force is becoming “increasingly reactive, not proactive”.
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “Community policing is the cornerstone of the police service.
“The bottom line is the intelligence on organised crime groups (OCGs) and terrorism comes from the communities.
“If you don’t have community police officers out there patrolling and picking up on that intelligence, then they’re missing out on so much…
“We’re finding OCGs coming in from far away, entering communities, knowing there’s no police, and actually setting up whatever they want to do knowing that nobody knows.
“There’s nobody knocking on the door. Or even saying ‘how are you doing?’
“It’s basics and we are totally missing out on that. And that is the basics that you pick up when officers would deal with shopkeepers; deal with schools.
“The intelligence you pick up from interacting with kids during a [road] crossing is unbelievable.”
Mr Kennedy added: “You don’t wake up one day and say ‘I’m going to rob a bank’ or ‘I’m going to make a bomb.’
“It starts at the low level – people doing the small things.
“My biggest fear is we are falling into the trap that we can only go to the big things. And then what will happen is maybe not today, but five or ten years’ time, we’re going to have really bad criminals within Scotland.”
A Scottish government spokesperson highlighted the extra funding in this year’s budget and said: “The chief constable confirmed that this investment would enable Police Scotland to restart recruitment, and they recruited almost 200 new police officers last month.
“Scotland continues to have more police officers per head of population than England and Wales.
“Police Scotland continues to dispose of properties no longer fit for purpose or required for operational policing, while at the same time reinvesting in purpose-built properties to deliver modern premises capable of delivering more joined-up public services.
“Decisions on the deployment of resources are a matter for the chief constable.”
There were 16,363 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland as at December 31, 2023 – a drop of 250 FTE officers (1.5 per cent) compared with the previous quarter.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell told the Scottish Police Authority in February: “Our primary investment will always be in police officers. Providing the highest possible level of safety and security with the funding available is what the people and communities of Scotland deserve and would expect.”