By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
Police officers in the central belt were warned their local custody suites were full and any new prisoners would have to be transferred to the north of the country, 1919 can reveal.
A memo was sent out warning of a “high level of demand” over the last weekend in April, with alternative locations for custody cells including Dundee and Aberdeen.
Police Scotland said it has “well-established options to manage increased demand and cell capacity to ensure a continuous service” and that nobody had to travel out of the central belt on this occasion.
But the close call has raised concerns over the lack of custody suites available to officers following the closure of more than 20 over the last two years across Scotland.
“What’s playing out here now is really indicative of the impact of a lack of investment in the police and the police estate, and wider issues within the criminal justice system with the prisoner population,” said David Threadgold, chair of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF).
“The decision to take somebody’s liberty from them, as a police officer, is one of the most significant things that you can do, and it’s never done without due consideration of every aspect.
“Those people who we arrest and who we take that liberty from have a right to be treated properly and fairly by the police, and with the minimal amount of intrusion in their life.
“The public has every right to expect that if somebody commits a crime that we can take them into custody and process them, but that shouldn’t involve increased risk to that person.”
He added: “Although nobody was taken to Dundee, that was a consideration if more people had been taken into custody. Just because there wasn’t anyone, it doesn’t mean it’s not an issue.
“And it’s not an issue that’s restricted to the central belt either.”
Figures revealed last year showed that since the beginning of 2024, 22 custody suites have closed including facilities in Aviemore, Ayr, Dingwall, Ellon, Galashiels, Hamilton, Lanark, Partick, Peterhead and Perth.
The highest number of closures over the last two years have been in the Highlands and Islands, where six police custody suites were shut.
Four were closed in Glasgow, as well as in Lothians and Borders, while two each were closed across Edinburgh, the north-east, Lanarkshire and Tayside.
Further pressure is placed on the demand for cells as Scotland’s remand prison population continues to remain high, with 2,156 people held on remand as of February 1, according to Scottish Government statistics.
Threadgold added: “When conversations are being had about people who are on remand and who would ordinarily go into the prison estate being kept in the police estate, that is simply unacceptable, and again further evidence of the wider issues in the criminal justice system with prison capacity.”
Chief Superintendent Chris Stewart, of Police Scotland’s Criminal Justice Services Division, told 1919: “Over the course of the weekend our custody facilities experienced a high level of demand.
“Cell availability changes constantly depending on the numbers of people coming into custody and being released.
“We have a number of well-established options to manage increased demand and cell capacity to ensure a continuous service.
“No one entering custody in the west or east of Scotland required to be transported to Dundee at any time.”