By Tom Martin
Police officers are being left to carry the trauma of fatal crashes with shrinking specialist support as incidents involving death on Scotland’s roads rise, it has been warned.
New Scottish Government figures show offences of causing death by dangerous driving remain 41 per cent higher than they were in 2021, despite a slight fall over the past year.
In a recent update to the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland said it was trying to build a more sustainable model for road policing in response to growing and more complex demand.
The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) said repeated exposure to fatal collisions is taking a toll on officers, while the number of dedicated roads policing officers has dropped since the creation of Police Scotland.
Brian Jones, the federation’s vice chair, said there is a human cost behind the figures, with officers dealing not only with traumatic scenes, but with the grief of families in the aftermath.
“We’re all human beings. You can only deal with so much trauma before the body says no,” he told 1919.
Jones, who spent 17 years in road policing, added: “It’s not just the trauma of the incident itself. It’s trying to manage the trauma of the families affected.”
He said dedicated roads policing numbers have fallen from around 770 when Police Scotland was created to around 500 now.
And he claimed the true operational figure is lower still, once long-term sickness is taken into account, putting the number of officers effectively available closer to just over 400.
Jones said the picture becomes starker still once shift patterns are factored in.
“We’re all human beings. You can only deal with so much trauma before the body says no”
Brian Jones, vice chair, SPF
“Divide that by five for the shift pattern that they work, and five into that is very few, isn’t it? If you have more deaths on the road and fewer officers dealing with those tragic incidents, then that’s bound to have an impact on those officers’ wellbeing,” he said.
The warning comes after repeated concerns about the toll road policing is taking on officers.
Last August, 1919 revealed that half of officers surveyed by the SPF said the role had affected their mental health, with a significant number attending more than one fatal collision a month.
More than a quarter said they had taken time off work because of their mental health, with the federation warning many were dealing with more trauma than most people could imagine.
An SPF report also raised concerns about the support available to officers after traumatic incidents, describing the response in some cases as a “tick box exercise”.
It called for a review of psychological support for road policing officers, including the Trauma Risk Management process, and said Police Scotland should consider introducing mandatory supervisor-led debriefings after traumatic incidents.
Recorded offences of causing death by dangerous driving fell by 12 per cent over the past year, from 59 to 52 crimes, but were still well above the 37 recorded in the year ending December 2021.
The latest Scottish Government statistics also show a rise in other serious road traffic offences.
Dangerous and careless driving was up 13 per cent over the year, while drink and drug driving offences rose by seven per cent.
Chief Superintendent Scott McCarren
Jones also argued that fewer officers on the roads affects police visibility and, in turn, driver behaviour.
“If you’ve got less visibility on the road network, then behaviour of motorists will deteriorate. That’s been known for a long time,” he said.
“If you drive around the road networks now in Scotland, you’ll hardly see a road policing vehicle because there are so few.”
Chief Superintendent Scott McCarren said: “Road policing officers and staff work hard to deliver for communities and keep people safe, and our workforce is under pressure from increased threats and a rapidly intensifying operational environment.
“The nature of policing is such that our officers and staff find themselves in situations which can be stressful, dangerous and traumatic, causing a lasting impact on them.
“Health and welfare remains one of Police Scotland’s highest priorities, with enhanced provisions from both our Employee Assistance and Your Wellbeing Matters programmes.
“The Chief Constable has been clear that our priority is to strengthen and modernise our front line so our people are best equipped to prevent crime.”