Scottish Police Federation: single force in ‘dire financial straits’

Police Scotland is in such dire financial straits that it is sending officers to charity shops to source equipment that can be bought for a couple of pounds in most supermarkets, according to the Scottish Police Federation (SPF).

Calum Steele, general secretary of the SPF, said in a statement that this is attributable to “a lack of funding for what is the first and last emergency service; the only service that’s called when others either can’t be contacted or say no; and the only service that can’t say no.”

The SPF describes officers being forced to scour charity shops for car sun blinds to shield a child from public view in order to save on costs.

Meanwhile, dog handlers following trails are being told to stop as they approach the end of their shift, so they avoid incurring overtime, and other dog handlers are being despatched to pick up from where they left off.

Mr Steele said: “Cash is king and woe betide anyone who isn’t playing their part in making cuts.

“Theorising on paper that the service will be improved by cutting is a fool’s errand and the public is being misled over the policing realities of today. At a time when so much emphasis is being placed on the cost of policing, it’s long overdue that we had a real conversation about its value.”

Commenting on the strain the single force is under, he added: “The PSoS deals with over 10,000 calls each day; nearly 4 million calls a year. That’s more calls for service than there are children in our schools and patients in our hospitals – combined. A few short weeks ago, during the exceptional good weather, Scotland had 10 murders in a 14 day period. In the same period its call demand far exceeded anything that it had ever experienced before and made the traditional high demand of Hogmanay seem like a quiet Sunday morning.

“I have heard it said that the pressures on the police budget are no more or no less than anywhere else in the public sector and respectfully suggest that is poppycock. I have no doubt that the hospitals were also busy during the good weather but unlike other services – the police go to the public. I have also yet to hear of a hospital that is expected to treat the dead but police still investigate those no longer able to be questioned about their crimes.”