I THINK it important that we realise that the existence of errant police officers did not start with the creation of Police Scotland. Thankfully bad apples are a rare occurrance but they have always existed in the service ever since the existence of policing in Scotland. They have been found at every rank up to and including Chief Constable level well before Police Scotland ever existed. Again, although small in number, transgressions in policing can be found in every force in the United Kingdom and beyond.
Equally the need for “gardening leave” is not a a new device dreamt up by the Scottish Police Authority. It is a necessity to which many organisations have resorted in order to deal with delicate situations.
The question of VAT not being applicable to Police Scotland was not something new. The same situation existed with the predecessor organisation the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA). The SPSA was created not by the SNP Government but by the last Labour Justice Minister and at a time when a Labour Government at Westminster set the rules on VAT.
Looking at recent statistics on police performance, as a former convener of a police authority I would have been well chuffed if the amount of leave time owed to officers was sitting at an average of one and a half days per officer. The same could be said if the call centres had a compliance rate of 99.9 per cent. Both of these very positive figures have been used by the detractors of Police Scotland in unfortunate negative attacks.
In short, I feel that in measuring the effectiveness of Police Scotland it is important to concentrate on what is happening with the day job. Here the results are excellent and do not receive the acclaim they rightly deserve. It is also essential to remember that had the eight forces which existed prior to the establishment of Police Scotland continued, then the day job would have suffered badly due lack of resource. Then we really would have had policing problems.
It is sad that so many ill-informed politicians will make any excuse to use Police Scotland as an opportunity with which to attempt to beat the Government. This merely erodes public confidence in a what is an excellent service.
George Kay,
25 Kirkbank Road, Burntisland, Fife.
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