Police

A rule mandating that police officers have degrees could remove 4,000 recruits from the front line, one force has claimed as it seeks judicial review of the policy. Lincolnshire Police is challenging the College of Policing’s demand that new recruits have a degree, three-year apprenticeship or

Changes to Police Scotland’s stop and search policy have made it a leader in European law enforcement, according to a University of Dundee lecturer. Dr Megan O’Neill says that revisions to the controversial procedure have helped to make the actions of officers more effective in tackling

The use of armed officers in more than 5,000 routine incidents last year has been defended by ministers. Community Safety Minister Ash Denham said that allowing armed officers to attend routine calls was “sensible use of police time”.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have questioned Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf about a report from the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), in which the union described some buildings in the police estate as being “unfit for human habitation”. The report found a number of problems, incl

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) has proposed legislative amendments to strengthen the organisation’s ability to carry out its key functions: to investigate serious incidents involving the police and to review how the police handle complaints made about them. In its s

A police watchdog has recommended that Police Scotland ensures all officers undertaking or commanding firearms operations are reminded of the legal basis for their powers, and of the need to explain and justify using such powers on an emergency basis following an incident with a man wielding a

Poor financial management, unclear lines of responsibility and a failure to focus on the views of officers and staff in the early stages of reform lie at the root of many of the problems faced by Police Scotland, according to Holyrood's Justice Committee. A review into the 2012 Police and Fire

The equivalent of more than 40 per cent of officers and staff have left the British Transport Police in Scotland since the Scottish government announced its plan to merge the service into Police Scotland. Freedom of information requests submitted by the Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed that

The cost of Police Scotland's junked phone hacking kiosks is likely to rise again as the force considers taking legal action to prove it did not breach privacy laws. It spent £370,684 last April on 41 of its cyber kiosks, which let officers copy data from mobile phones, but the plans were shel

The police are to be given new powers to stop and search anyone suspected of carrying a corrosive substance in public. The move will enable officers to enforce a new offence of carrying corrosives in a public place, part of the Offensive Weapons Bill currently being considered by Parliament.

It has emerged that 500 people per month caught with cannabis in Scotland are avoiding prosecution as police issue warnings instead. Anti-drugs campaigners have criticised the policy as a “soft touch” approach but police have defended their use of recorded police warnings (RPWs) as a way

Police Scotland has abandoned plans to roll out controversial 'cyber kiosks' which would allow them to harvest data from mobile phones. Concerns were previously raised over their use in Edinburgh and Stirling, where they were tested without any human rights assessment.

Police officer numbers have seen a small increase in the last quarter but have decreased over the past year. The key findings of the statistics, published today by Scotland’s chief statistician, are:

Domestic abuse offenders could be given mandatory lie-detector tests upon release from prison under new proposals. The polygraph tests are among the measures included in the Domestic Abuse Bill, which would also introduce a ban on cross-examination of victims by their alleged abusers in family court

A report by the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) has found that Police Scotland failed to record a report for concern for a 25-year-old vulnerable man who went missing and was later found dead. The man’s body was discovered on the beach near Musselburgh Harbour at 1750 ho