Police Scotland welcomed 250 new police officers after efforts were made to make the job more accessible – as numbers increased from the lowest level since 2007.
The recruits celebrated completing their training with a passing out parade in Police Scotland’s headquarters at Tulliallan, near Stirling.
The course was the first to trial non-residential training to enable officers with caring responsibilities to participate, in a bid to make the job more accessible, and will be evaluated for further consideration.
Of the cohort, 80 were women and 170 were men – bringing the “officer strength” of the force to about 16,400.
The latest figures released in August by the Scottish Government show there were 16,207 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers employed by Police Scotland on June 30, a decrease of 148 FTE officers since March 31.
READ MORE: Police numbers drop to lowest level since 2007 as government accused of 'neglect'
The data showed the number of police officers has reduced by 392 since June 30 last year – and that the figure was lower than had been employed in Scotland on March 31 2007 – just before the SNP took power.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell congratulated the recruits at a ceremony attended by their family and friends on Friday.
She thanked the officers for stepping forward in their commitment to public service.
Ms Farrell said: “Policing is a hugely rewarding and demanding vocation, and I congratulate our latest cohort of officers for successfully completing their training.
“I want to thank these officers for making a commitment to public service and for stepping up to help keep Scotland’s communities safe.
“They are now ready to deploy to communities to discharge their duties in line with Police Scotland’s values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to uphold human rights.
“I thank them for their dedication to deliver an excellent service to the public.”
In August, Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “We have set out plans to recruit over 1,300 new officers in 2024-25, the highest number Police Scotland has recruited in a single year.”
At the same time, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Police Scotland is set to take on more recruits this year than at any time since 2013 and they have stated that current officer numbers are about 16,400.
“Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales and they are the best paid at all levels.”
In February, David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said that officers were leaving due to “all of the extra jobs we have to do, all the extra legislation that’s came into play over the last 10 years”.
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