Police officer numbers continue to exceed 1,000 target

The number of extra police officers continues to exceed the SNP’s 1,000 target, figures published today show.

The latest quarterly workforce statistics show there were 17,263 police officers on December 31, 2015, an increase of 6.3 per cent or 1,029 officers compared to March 31, 2007.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson claimed reductions in crime were supported by the SNP’s commitment to deliver 1,000 more officers compared to the figure in 2007.

He said: “By contrast, police numbers in England and Wales have already fallen by 16,800 since 2007 to their lowest level since 2000. If numbers in Scotland had been cut at the same rate between these dates, we would have 2,922 fewer officers than our commitment.

“Scotland’s police officers and staff work incredibly hard to serve our communities, tackling violence and crime. We will continue to work with Police Scotland to support them by ensuring there are enough officers to do the job and safeguard our capacity to protect the people of Scotland in the future.

“That is why the Scottish government has protected the police revenue budget for the coming year and committed to £100 million of investment over the next parliament to maintain that protection in real terms. Alongside this, the Scottish government is extending the police reform fund for a further year to support on-going reform. We are providing £55 million of funding, of which £36 million is revenue for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland.”

Last September, Martin Fotheringham, vice-president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents said allowing police numbers to fall would prevent more devastating cuts in other parts of the force.

He highlighted the number of police officers who were forced to fill administrative roles due to a shortage of back-office staff caused by budgetary pressure.

Mr Fotheringham said at the time: “There is clearly some significant budget pressure and challenges ahead.

“We would like to see an intelligent conversation to consider all of the options.

“Included within that would absolutely be whether the lock-in on 1,000 additional officers remains the right policy, or whether it’s time to review that and look at more of a mixed staffing model.

“That’s not on the table at the moment because of the manifesto commitment.”