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MPs from Unionist parties may feel unable to acknowledge publicly the quality, the expertise of Police Scotland in this regard. But law enforcement bodies in the USA and elsewhere in the world do, in this subject and others.

This is from May 2022: ‘Police Scotland hosts American officers in policing masterclass’

Source: https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2022/may/police-scotland-hosts-american-officers-in-policing-masterclass/

‘Police Scotland senior officers have come together with their opposite numbers from American police departments in an effort to improve public trust and confidence in policing in both countries.

‘For several years, Police Scotland has been involved with work with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and 14 senior officers travelled from Scotland to Washington DC to meet colleagues from a number of American agencies to take part in the latest phase of the International Collaboration on Policing (ICoP) masterclass in March 2022.

‘The programme’s vision is to share experience and improvement ideas on legitimacy while enabling the development of strategic leaders and effective networks.’

And: ‘Fifteen American delegates from major police departments, including New York, Los Angeles and Tucson, made a reciprocal visit to Scotland last week (17-22 May, 2022).

‘They heard about the reform journey of Police Scotland, before touring the Scottish Parliament, learning about Parliamentary and Royal Protection policing operations, and from Chief Superintendent Sean Scott on policing the capital.’

We learn this from Deputy Chief David Lazar of San Francisco Police Department who participated in the masterclass : “The international collaboration on policing between Police Scotland and US agencies has been powerful and extremely impactful for us, personally and professionally.

“We have been able to learn from one another on meaningful topics such as building trust and legitimacy in the communities we serve. Our professional engagement with one another allows us to learn best practice in policing, resulting in improved police service at a local level.”

Such international collaborations are longstanding. This from the New York Times on 11 December 2015: ‘Scottish police officers simulated a riot at the Jackton training center in Glasgow, Scotland, where police leaders from throughout the United States gathered to discuss department tactics.’

The Scotsman on 26 July 2021 reported: ‘First Minister Nicola Sturgeon opens Police Scotland’s new International Academy supporting human rights around the world’

‘The academy, based at Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan, enables shared learning across the world.

‘Among other projects, the academy will welcome senior police officers from the United States to attend the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Executive Institute – the first time the executive training course has been held outside the US in more than ten years.’

‘Police Scotland has also delivered three online workshops with officers in Colombia, focusing on violence prevention approaches in Glasgow and community engagement approaches in Edinburgh.’

The Scotsman also notes: ‘Policing in Scotland has been engaged in international development programmes for decades including inbound study visits to Scotland, as well as outbound deployments of officers and staff around the world, with a particular focus on the Scottish Government’s partner countries via the African Programme in Malawi and Zambia.

‘In Sri Lanka, Police Scotland is half way through a three-year programme of work, funded by the British High Commission in Colombo, which is focused on community policing, the prevention and investigation of Sexual and Gender Based Violence and supporting gender equality in policing.

‘A strong relationship has also been established and maintained with the Police Executive Research Forum, based in the USA, following a visit by American police chiefs to Scotland in 2016.

‘A study at that time of the de-escalation techniques used by Scottish officers led to the development of the US ICAT (Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics) model which has been rolled out by a number of US law enforcement organisations, including the New York Police Department.’