Police

Police officers' time is being wasted in court, Chief Constable Jo Farrell has said. Appearing before Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee yesterday, she said that as many as 500 officers are taken away from their duties every day to appear in court, with most not even giving evidence.

The number of full-time police officers in Scotland has fallen to its lowest level since 2007. Data from Scotland's chief statistician show that there were 16,207 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers on June 30, a decline of 148 since March 31.

Millions of pounds are being wasted on unnecessary court appearances by police officers as it emerged that in one case they were summoned to give evidence against a dead man. The Scottish Police Federation said that 750 officers in northern Scotland have been cited since January, yet only 26 gave ev

A £33 million Scottish government initiative for sharing digital evidence from crime scene to court room is being rolled out across Scotland. Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) allows police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff and judges to access a secure, unified syst

A Police Scotland database contains the names of more than 500,000 people despite the fact many have never committed a crime, prompting calls for a review. Solicitor Aamer Anwar said that Chief Constable Jo Farrell should explain why so many names are on the database.

Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee has backed the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill at stage one, but expressed concerns over whether its reforms will sufficiently improve the police complaints system. The committee’s report said the introduction of a statutory code

Police Scotland has agreed a national contract to implement body worn video for frontline officers and staff across Scotland over the next three years. Motorola was successful in securing the £13.3 million contract, which entails the purchase of 10,500, Home Office-approved VB400 cameras and s

The complete failure of Police Scotland to perform its role led to a young woman being trapped in a car with her dead partner for days before she too died, a fatal accident inquiry that has taken nine years has found. Lamara bell, 25, lay severely injured but conscious at the bottom of an embankment

Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell has criticised the court system as she confirmed plans to reduce resources spent on 101 calls across Scotland. She said the "judicial system" was “very inefficient” compared to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) south of the border, with overti

A group of police officers are to launch legal action after they suffered hearing damage during Bonfire Night. Some 20 officers have sought legal advice and are working with the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) after Police Scotland failed to provide them with adequate ear protection.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have urged Scottish ministers to "get serious" over the challenges facing policing as new figures reveal that police officer numbers are now at their lowest level in more than a decade and a half. The Scottish government’s Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statis

The lawyer who represented a police officer who won a case against Police Scotland said the force has "weaponised" its process against officers who complain. Margaret Gribbon was giving evidence to MSPs who are considering new police complaints and misconduct legislation.

Police Scotland has been urged to join more than a dozen UK police forces in issuing an apology for historic discrimination against LGBT+ people. Northumbria Police chief constable Vanessa Jardine has become the 16th UK police chief to issue a formal apology to the LGBT+ community in response to a c

Police should “return to preventing crime” and spend less time on dealing with people who have mental health problems, the chief constable has said. Jo Farrell said that each year officers were deployed to “well over 100,000 mental health-related incidents”, which is equivale

Emergency and retail workers suffer physical attacks from members of the public on average nearly 60 times every single day in Scotland, according to new research. The findings come as a police officer has been forced to leave her job due to the trauma of attending a crime where she and her colleagu