Police Scotland 10-year strategy laid before Parliament

A 10-year strategy aimed at ensuring Police Scotland is equipped to tackle new and emerging threats has been published.

“Policing 2026” includes a commitment to recruit more civilian cyber specialists to counter the threat posed by cyber-crime and calls for greater emphasis on addressing vulnerability and mental health issues.

As well as maintaining officer numbers for 2017-18, the strategy also proposes a workforce model that frees up officers from support work to increase the number available for frontline policing.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson welcomed the strategy in Scottish Parliament and said: “The Chief Constable has assured me that operational policing capacity will be increased, and I have made it clear that officer recruitment should not be slowed until clear independent evidence is provided to both the public and the Parliament that this increase has been delivered. Officer numbers will remain well above the number we inherited in 2007.

“The Scottish government has also protected Police Scotland’s resource budget for each year of this Parliament – delivering a £100 million boost by 2021 – and provided an enhanced £61 million reform budget for 2017-18 to support the transformational change outlined in Policing 2026.

“The Scottish government, like the Parliament and public expects strong governance and accountability, so I am clear that the SPA and HMICS must work together to oversee the implementation of the strategy. This will include working hand-in-hand with their workforce - and its representatives to support and energise them to realise this change and continue to provide an excellent service across Scotland.”