Police

Plans for future legislation are part of the Scottish government’s response to an independent review into the handling of complaints against the police. The Scottish government has launched a 12-week consultation on a new bill which delivers on a commitment made in September last year.

Volunteer police officers in England and Wales will be armed with Tasers under controversial UK government plans. In a speech to the Police Federation annual conference, home secretary Priti Patel said special constables would be authorised to carry the electric stun guns in response to calls from p

Police Scotland has made a payout of almost £1 million to a former female firearms officer after an employment tribunal ruled she had been victimised. Rhona Malone complained about sexism in the single force and said she had been through “absolute hell”.

Police Scotland is facing a shortage of senior officers after a spike in people applying to leave the single force. Retirement rates for this year are already 70 per cent higher than normal, according to the Scottish Police Federation, while litigation in England over pensions could prompt a surge i

Police officer numbers in Scotland are at their lowest point since early 2009 – well before the Scottish government merged forces to create Police Scotland in 2013. There are currently 17,117 full-time police officers serving across Scotland, as of December 2021, surpassing previous lows recor

A police officer who sent sexually explicit messages to crime victims he met while on duty has been jailed. David Taylor admitted three charges of sending indecent communications and one charge of stalking at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last month.

Police Scotland has been urged by a watchdog to take a "strong and bold" position on equality and diversity. The recommendation follows a survey of officers past and present which found that 41 per cent had experienced discrimination or harassment while in the force.

Nearly 250 complaints of sexual misconduct were made against serving Scottish police officers in the past four years, with none dismissed as a result, new figures show. Data obtained through freedom of information legislation by Channel 4's Dispatches shows that 166 police officers and special const

Police Scotland is introducing an officer verification process to provide reassurance to any member of the public who may be concerned about whether or not they are being spoken to by a genuine police officer working alone. The move follows the "understandable public concern surrounding the horrendo

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today warned that Police Scotland must be transformed into a 21st century police force after new figures revealed that recorded cyber-crime doubled in the past twelve months. In 2020-21, an estimated 14,130 cyber-crimes were record

Members of Edinburgh Law School's Understanding Inequalities project have published two new high profile reports. The first report, authored by Professor Susan McVie, details data on the number of charges reported by Police Scotland under the Coronavirus Regulations between March 2020 and June 2021

Traffic police in Scotland are catching as many drivers on drugs as those who are drunk, new figures show. Specialist road officers are catching 40 to 50 motorists a week who have taken narcotics. The figures come after roadside tests were brought in two years ago. Drug wipes are used to detect drug

The publication of a review into how the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service manages criminal allegations against the police has been welcomed by the Lord Advocate. The report, which was compiled by HM Inspectorate of Prosecutions in Scotland, identified that the public should be reassured by

The Metropolitan Police could adopt a gender-neutral uniform for all police officers following a consultation of officers. The UK's largest police force – with nearly twice as many officers as Police Scotland – said it would consult staff ahead of the contract with its current uniform pr

Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has called on Police Scotland to cease all involvement in training police in Sri Lanka following concerns about human rights abuses. Mr MacAskill's intervention comes after Human Rights Watch, Freedom from Torture, the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice