Scottish government maintains pledge on police officer numbers

Police officer numbers are 1,038 higher than in March 2007, maintaining the Scottish government’scommitment to a 1,000 more officers.

Scotland’s chief statistician today published statistics on Police Officer Quarterly Strength, which gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland.

The key findings of the statistics are:

Commenting on the publication, Community Safety and Legal Affairs Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “Recorded crime is at a 40 year low, with violent crime down 52 per cent and crimes of handling an offensive weapon (including knives) down 62 per cent since 2006-07.

“These strong statistics are backed by over 1,000 extra police officers that this government has delivered since 2007.

“However, on behalf of the Scottish government I want to thank all the officers and their support staff within Police Scotland for all they do to prevent and detect crime, for protecting the public and for helping to ensure communities across Scotland are safer.

“This publication shows police officer numbers continue to exceed targets and demonstrates that, through working in partnership with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, we continue to honour the commitment we gave to the people of Scotland to deliver 1,000 additional officers.

“By contrast, in England and Wales police numbers have already fallen by over 15,000 since 2007 to their lowest level since 2001, and are expected to drop even further.”