Achi news desk-
David Kennedy’s warning comes amid a host of challenges facing the national police, with a reduction in full-time officers to the lowest level in 15 years, plans to close 29 local stations, a policy of not investigating some ‘minor crimes’ ‘, and the resource impact of new hate crime legislation.
Last month, senior police officers warned that enforcing the SNP’s hate crime law risked diverting officers from tackling violent criminals.
READ MORE: The SNP was forced to reveal the costs of overhauling police complaints
Members of the professional body representing some of the most significant figures in Police Scotland also said the bill threatened to fuel allegations of “institutional bias” against the force.
The Scottish Association of Chief Inspectors of Police said there was “enough anger and hateful bile online to occupy every police officer in Scotland” and raised concerns about a promise that every complaint would have to be investigated to determine whether a crime had taken place.
The Scottish Government said Police Scotland had received “record” funding of £1.55 billion for 2024/25, an increase of £92.7 million.
But the latest issue of the justice publication 1919 Magazine, out today (TUE), highlights fears that the police are becoming “increasingly reactive, not proactive”.
READ MORE: Explanation: What are Scotland’s new Hate Crime Laws?
Since the creation of Police Scotland in April 2013, the numbers have fallen from 17,324 to 16,363 – 250 less than the previous quarter.
Mr Kennedy – head of the organization which represents rank and file police officers – said that if there are further cuts, it could see an increase in organized crime activity.
“Community policing is the cornerstone of the police service,” he told the 1919 Magazine.
“The truth is the information about organized crime groups (OCGs) and terrorism comes from the communities.
“If you don’t have community police officers patrolling and gathering that information, then they’re missing out on so much.
“We find OCGs coming in from afar, going into communities, knowing there’s no police, and actually setting up whatever they want to do knowing no one knows.
“There’s nobody knocking on the door. Or even saying, ‘how are you?’
“It’s basic stuff and we’re completely missing out on that. And that’s the basic stuff you pick up when officers deal with shoppers; deal with schools.
“The knowledge you get from interacting with children during a (road) crossing is unbelievable.”
Mr Kennedy added: “You don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to rob a bank’ or, ‘I’m going to make a bomb.’
“It starts at the low level – people doing the little things.
“My biggest fear is that we fall into the trap that we can only go to the big things. And then what will happen maybe not today, but five or 10 years, we are going to have criminals very bad in Scotland.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government pointed to an increase of almost £100 million in police funding in this financial year – up from £1.46 billion to £1.55 billion.
“The chief constable confirmed that this investment would enable Police Scotland to resume recruitment, and they recruited almost 200 new police officers last month,” they said.
“Scotland continues to have more police officers per head of population than England and Wales.
“Police Scotland continues to dispose of properties that are no longer fit for purpose or are required for operational policing, while at the same time reinvesting in purpose-built properties to provide modern buildings that are n be able to provide more coordinated public services.
“Decisions on the use of resources are a matter for the chief constable.”
Speaking in February at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority’s board, Police Chief Constable Jo Farrell said: “Our fundamental investment will always be in police officers.
“As chief constable, who has received significant public funding, I have a duty to ensure that I maximize the number of experienced officers available to the frontline through the right investment in non-guaranteed support.”
Scottish Tory MP Murdo Fraser said: “Rank and file officers rightly highlight the perfect storm the SNP has created due to years of shameful neglect of policing Scotland, along with r Absurd new Hate Crimes Act.
“It stands to reason that organized crime will flourish and the threat of extremism increase if officer numbers are at their lowest level since 2008 and police stations are closing up and down Scotland.
“These brutal cuts have forced the police to stop investigating some crimes at the same time as they are inundated with thousands of new complaints – many of them false or annoying – under the reckless Hate Crime Act.”
