Police Scotland: Number of officers drops to lowest level since 2008 amid 'cash cow' warning

Figures published by the Scottish Government have shown that police officer numbers have dropped again, to their lowest level since 2008

Police Scotland has been stretched to “breaking point”, critics have warned, as it was revealed the number of officers north of the Border has dropped again to its lowest level in more than 15 years.

Almost 260 officers have left the force in the past year alone, figures have shown.

Police Scotland had 16,356 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers at the end of March – the lowest since the end of September 2008, according to figures published by the Scottish Government.

Police recruits participate in a passing out parade at Tulliallan Police College. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The latest statistics showed the number of FTE officers had fallen by 259 from the same time the previous year – the equivalent of at least one officer leaving the force every working day for the past 12 months.

Earlier this year, David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, warned any further drops in officer numbers could see an increase in organised crime activity.

“The bottom line is the intelligence on organised crime groups and terrorism comes from the communities,” he told 1919 Magazine. “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.”

Concerns have also been raised over the practicalities of police officers investigating incidents recorded under the newly introduced Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. It emerged earlier this year 7,152 complaints were made online in the week of its introduction on April 1, although only 240 were escalated and recorded as hate crimes.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay described the latest officer number figures as “alarming” and said his party was committed to boosting staff levels.

He said: “This latest alarming drop highlights how Police Scotland’s ability to tackle crime is being undermined by the SNP Government. Police Scotland had been forced to stop investigating certain crimes, while dealing with a deluge of complaints caused by the SNP’s hate crime law.

“Yet ministers expect falling numbers of officers to do more with less which is unfair and unsustainable. Our party is committed to putting 1,000 more officers on Scotland’s streets.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur said: “On the SNP’s watch, the thin blue line of Scottish policing has been stretched to breaking point. For years, SNP mismanagement has undermined community policing and laid the foundations for future crises.

“The officers themselves feel unsupported, overwhelmed and stretched dangerously thin. The ongoing pilot projects that are seeing certain crimes go un-investigated are proof positive that the force is having to do less with less.””

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officer recruitment was delayed in 2023 to ensure policing was delivered on budget during 2023-24. We restarted officer recruitment in March.”

Justice secretary Angela Constance said: “Despite deeply challenging financial circumstances, our Budget for 2024/25 includes record police funding of £1.55 billion – an increase of £92.7 million. This will enable Police Scotland to bring officer numbers up to around 16,500-16,600, starting with the recruitment of almost 200 new officers in March with further recruitment this year.

“Scotland continues to have more police officers per head of population than England and Wales and recorded crime is at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974.”