By Professor John Robertson OBA
As of March 31, 2024, there were 16,356 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland.1
According to the Herald,
In 2023, 257 left to take up a new job, education or for personal reasons. That is according to data published in freedom of information requests obtained by Scottish Labour. However, that figure is compared to 173 in 2019 – an increase of 49% in five years.2
Notice, they’re not telling us if there a constant trend upward from 2019? Is that because, annoyingly for Scottish Labour, it was lower in 2023 than it 2022? If there was a steady growth, year-on-year, we’d hear of it.
Intriguingly, a Lib Dem FoI request found that 568 officers left between October 2021 and August 2022, suggesting a fall from 2022 to 2023 and, once more, messing up Scottish Labour’s plans.3
However, 257 is only 1.57% of 16 356, up from 1.05% the previous year – a tiny 0.52% increase.
Sources:
- https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/who-we-are/about-police-scotland/#:~:text=Police%20Scotland%20was%20established%20on,heart%20of%20everything%20we%20do.
- https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24796020.wake-call-snp-police-officer-resignations-surge/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20257%20officers%20left,of%2049%25%20in%20five%20years.
- https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/scots-police-officers-reveal-quit-28669170
Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/
The Oliver Brown Award for advancing the cause of Scotland’s self respect, previously awarded to Dr Philippa Whitford, Alex Salmond and Sean Connery: https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116
About Oliver Brown, the first Scottish National Party candidate to save his deposit in a Parliamentary election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Brown_(Scottish_activis
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Many left the Police after Westminster brought in changes to pension contributions. Increased £100 a month. Many leave in their fifties. Get another job.
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Gosh, at 1% loss of officers, we’ll not have a police force in 100 years… Lets panic!
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Aye, a Pauline McNeill special, delivered with just the right amount of hyperbolic exaggeration to even draw a wry smile from Damn Tsunami Baillie..
You might have thought given Labour’s death spiral in the polls Anas-wi-teeth would have come up with some sort of strategy other than the usual tripe….
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