From Statistics on policing published yesterday:

* New * There were 16,430 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2026. This was 196 (+1.2%) more officers compared to the position on 31 March 2007.

As staffing levels have been maintained how has the level of crime faced by these officers changed?

• Total recorded crime in Scotland was about 419,257 in 2006/07. By the year ending December 2025 it was 308,532, down 26% https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2011-12/pages/7/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
• Violent crime peaked around the mid-2000s. Official Scottish Government analysis says violent crime in 2024/25 remained 23% below the 2006/07 peak. https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2011-12/pages/7/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Homicides have dropped dramatically. Scotland had 159 homicides in 2006/07 versus around 45–47 recently — among the lowest levels recorded in decades. https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2011-12/pages/7/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Scotland in the mid-2000s had a strong reputation for gang violence and knife crime, especially in parts of Glasgow. Since then, policing changes and the public-health approach used by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit are widely credited with reducing serious violence. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/homicides-in-scotland-fall-to-lowest-total-on-record-xp9bpjmvd?utm_source=chatgpt.com

So overall:

• General crime rates are substantially lower now than in 2006/07.
• Serious violence and homicide are far lower than they were in the mid-2000s.