NOTEBOOK

Round-up of policing and justice developments 

Sharp drop in complaints against cops

The number of complaints received about police from the public has dropped by more than a quarter, new figures have shown.

The 2,806 grievances submitted in the six months to September is a six-year low when compared to the same period across other years.

All major command regions recorded reductions, with the most significant decrease in the east.

The North East division is the area with the highest rate of complaints, followed by Fife.

Renfrewshire and Inverclyde received the fewest.

Borrowed time for overtime system

Police Scotland faces a bill of “well over £1 million” to fix its creaking overtime system.

An audit of the force’s technology for processing extra hours of work, which is around 30 years old, found it was vulnerable to collusion and inappropriate claims, with key elements “beyond their stated end of life”.

Bosses are concerned about the capabilities of the system, given overtime is on the rise, with an expected bill of £27 million for 2025/26.

The audit also found claims were settled late, with 11 instances where money was paid in July 2025 for work carried out in 2024.

As well as the replacement cost, any work is likely to take up to 18 months to complete.

Commuters and homeworkers targeted in net zero drive

Pollution caused by commuting and homeworking may be measured as part of Scottish Government sustainability plans.

A new strategy is expected in the spring, with Police Scotland bosses already contemplating what new procedures they may have to introduce.

After a strong start, long-term efforts to reduce emissions slowed as the organisation struggled with “financial constraints in the public sector” and geo-political factors, such as the global energy price rise caused by the war in Ukraine.

It had hoped to cut emissions by 35 per cent by next year, but is on track for just a 19 per cent reduction.

Now a report has highlighted “homeworking and commuting emissions” as something ministers will expect “particular bodies with larger spend and influence” to monitor.

Labouring in our communities

Community policing is set to become an election battleground after Scottish Labour vowed to deliver a named crime prevention officer in every council ward.

The officers would work with local councillors to identify opportunities to reduce crime and respond to local incidents.

If Scottish Labour forms the government after next May’s contest, the party also said it will set out new ‘strategic police priorities’ within 100 days.

Leader Anas Sarwar said: “We will free up 360 police officers to join divisions on the front line of policing in Scotland, cutting thousands of wasted hours in A&E departments and in our courts.”

David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, described the announcements as “a start in the right direction”.

Pet rescue

Firefighters attended hundreds of incidents last year involving the rescue of an animal, new research has shown.

Crews were called to 448 incidents in the past 12 months, a figure which has remained consistent in recent years.

The incidents included 126 animals rescued from height, and a further 118 who were trapped.

Dozens had to be pulled from mud, and a number were extracted from below ground.

Firefighters were also called to help in the lifting of heavy animals, including domestic pets, livestock and wild animals.

BTP’s Scottish success story

Transport police in Scotland resolve a significantly higher proportion of crimes than their UK counterparts, latest data has indicated.

The Scottish division tackled three times the rate of sexual offending, with a 60 per cent solve rate in the first half of 2025/26.

In crimes of violence, nearly 70 per cent of cases were cracked, compared to the nationwide British Transport Police (BTP) averages of 20 per cent.

And BTP officers north of the border were significantly more likely to get to the bottom of robberies and weapons offences.

A report on the matter also revealed five reports of sexual offending received in 2025 actually occurred on trains between 1982 and 1985.

Cycle of crime…

Cyclists were responsible for nearly double the amount of road traffic offences in Scotland than the previous year, it has been revealed. 

Police statistics show there were 46 cases involving a bicycle or a tricycle in the first quarter of 2025/26, compared to 24 in the same period last year.

It also represents a comparative five-year high, although the cases still account for a small fraction of overall road traffic offences.

Detection rates for the crime were high, with 33 of the 46 cases being successfully pursued.

… and counterfeit offences on the rise

Criminals who forge sensitive documents including passports and birth certificates were responsible for hundreds of recorded crimes last year.

The 210 incidents of ‘forgery and uttering’ was a considerable rise on the 153 the previous year, and part of a growing trend over the last decade.

The offence can involve the counterfeit production and use of certain documents, although forged currency is not part of the crime grouping.

The increase bucks the overall trend of crimes of dishonesty falling in Scotland.

Frosty jack attacks in Kingdom

Officers in Fife have warned motorists about the dangers of leaving their engine running to clear frost from their windscreens.

There have been at least three instances of “frost-jacking” in recent weeks around the Kingdom, where thieves strike while distracted car owners wait for their vehicles to heat up.

They targeted an Audi in Glenrothes, a BMW in Kirkcaldy and a Hyundai in Kinghorn all within a short space of time.

“The owners of these vehicles had left them unattended while the engine was running in order to defrost the car,” warned DI Sammi Davidson.

Two men have been arrested and charged in relation to the reports.

Government spending linked to recruitment

The Scottish Government is increasingly using social media platform LinkedIn to recruit key staff members.

Figures obtained by 1919 show ministers used almost £100,000 of taxpayers’ cash on marketing specifically geared towards recruitment.

The government had more to spend in its social media pot after axing all investment in X – formerly Twitter – when controversial billionaire Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022.

Although it spends money on advertising on Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn is the only platform where a specific recruitment membership is paid for.

The total social media spend for 2025 reached £379,000.

Secrecy over dashcam and doorbell contributions

Police Scotland has refused to say how many people have submitted dashcam and doorbell footage as part of criminal investigations.

Several forces across England disclosed how motorists and home-owners were transforming criminal inquiries by sharing their own evidence from road accidents and break-ins.

Tens of thousands of people in regions from Humberside to the West Midlands have handed in footage in recent years.

But the force in Scotland said it was unable to extract the relevant data within the confines of freedom of information laws.

Bonfire Night cops praised

Local officers have been commended for working “tirelessly” to enable Bonfire Night to pass off more peacefully than in recent years.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, gold commander for Operation Moonbeam, highlighted a 37 per cent fall in calls across Scotland between October 31 and November 5 – and said the success demonstrated the need for investment in community policing.

“I’ve been delighted to see how local officers across Scotland have worked tirelessly alongside key partners in education, youth services and the third sector to identify potential causes for community tensions and collaborate on new ways to address these before they culminate in disorder,” he said.

“Our chief constable has outlined the need to ensure a continued investment in community policing to help keep Scotland a safe place to live, work and visit and the success of Operation Moonbeam reaffirms the significant benefits that can be brought when that investment is in place.”

More than 2,000 cops on ‘modified duties’

The number of officers on ‘modified duties’ increased slightly to 2,253 at the end of June.

This is a rise from 2,183 at the end of June 2024.

Officers carry out modified or restricted duties if they cannot undertake the full range of duties, which can be the result of injury or illness.

As of June 30 this year there were also 656 officers on long-term sick leave.

Overtime and mental health absences soar

Police officers worked almost four and a half million hours of overtime over the last five years, according to new figures.

In 2024/25 alone, cops worked 773,151 hours of overtime – which cost over £28 million – the data obtained by the Scottish Conservatives shows.

The party’s justice spokesperson Liam Kerr said: “These figures expose the immense strain that Police Scotland officers are under, with millions of hours in overtime being notched up.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour separately published figures showing stress and mental health absences have soared by over 50 per cent.

Justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said: “It’s clear police in Scotland are at breaking point.”

Police Scotland said health and welfare “remains one of [the force’s] highest priorities”, while the Scottish Government said it is investing a record sum in policing.

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