Number of police officers in Scotland falls to lowest total since 2008

The number of police officers in Scotland has reached its lowest level in 14 years, figures show.

Scottish Government figures showed that in the third quarter of 2022 there were 16,570 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland.

That is both the lowest total since the formation of Police Scotland in April 2013 – with the total last below this level in quarter three of 2008, when there were 16,526 FT officers.

With the current total down by 662 FTE officers since the end of September 2021, the Tories claimed the force was “haemorrhaging officers”.

The SNP came to power in 2007 with a promise to increase police numbers by 1,000 – with Scotland having had 16,234 FTE officers in March 2007.

Officer numbers increased to more than 17,000 in the first quarter of 2009, peaking at 17,496 in the first quarter of 2013.

But now Police Scotland is warning a “flat cash settlement” for the coming years could mean it either has to freeze pay or cut officer numbers.

The force’s deputy chief officer, David Page, recently told MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee that “very, very difficult decisions” are ahead – with even the future of the 101 non-emergency call service being questioned.

Speaking about the latest police officer statistics, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Jamie Greene said: “Police Scotland are haemorrhaging officers at a time when the public need them most and have reached yet another record low since the SNP centralised Scotland’s police forces.”

The Tory insisted: “Public safety should be the number one priority for any Government, but the SNP have neglected our police with broken funding promises.

“Sadly, it is ordinary people who will have to pay the price for the SNP’s neglect, as we are already seeing with Scotland’s rising rates of violent crime.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur said: “Coming against the backdrop of rising levels of sexual and violent crime, these figures will make for alarming reading.”

He added: “After years of patting themselves on the back over police officer numbers, SNP ministers are now presiding over a hollowing out of our police force.

“The loss of so many skilled and experienced officers is especially concerning.

“All of this is a far-cry from the promises of the SNP’s election campaign to protect policing budgets.

“Ministers need to listen to the concerns of officers and staff and give them the resources necessary to keep communities safe.”

Earlier figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats using Freedom of Information showed that in the past five years more than 800 officers have quit Police Scotland after serving less than a decade with the force.

A total of 847 officers quit before serving 10 years – with 438 serving three years or less.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officer numbers are lower than they otherwise would be because of the consequences of Covid, the Cop26 climate change summit, and increased retirals resulting from changes to pension arrangements.

“We are actively recruiting, with an intake of around 300 new recruits due to join us later this month.”

Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans Keith Brown said: “Policing is and will continue to be a priority for this Government. We remain committed to working closely with both SPA and Police Scotland to support the delivery of the Joint Policing Strategy to ensure we continue to have a safe, protected and resilient Scotland.

“Officer numbers fluctuate due to the cycle of recruitment and retirement. The latest statistics reflect the impact of Cop26 and Covid restrictions, which reduced capacity to train new recruits at the Scottish Police College, also the impact of recent pension changes.

“Despite UK Government austerity, we have increased police funding year on year since 2016-17 and have invested more than £10 billion in policing since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013.

“Police Scotland, however, welcomed around 300 new recruits in both April and July with around a further 300 expected this month. Scotland has a higher number of officers per head of population than England and Wales and has more officers now than in March 2007.

“Crime in Scotland has fallen significantly – with recorded crime at the lowest level seen since 1974, down 43% since 2006-07.”