The Sun ‘newspaper’ this week has been milking Scotland’s dark history of murder, based entirely on offences which took place before the merger of Scotland’s eight regional forces. They have no choice to do so because not only has the murder level plummeted from 64 in 2012/2013, to 44 in 2024/2025, 33% in only 12 years, one of the lowest rates in Europe and well below that in England & Wales, every single cases has been solved.
The merger as with every SNP initiative met with opposition and media criticism. In 2017, the Herald‘s Tom Gordonstoun told us:
THE SNP Government has been accused of “a shocking lack of financial prudence” for pressing ahead with a controversial police merger without a full cost analysis. Labour MSP Mary Fee levelled the charge at Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister’s Questions. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15637528.sturgeon-financial-recklessness-police-merger/
From Police Scotland in March 2024:
Every homicide committed in Scotland since 2013 has been detected by Police Scotland, new figures confirmed today.
In 2022-23, all 52 homicides committed in Scotland were detected.
Latest statistics from Scottish Government, published today, show the number of homicides committed in Scotland continues to reduce.
Police Scotland’s 100 per cent homicide detection rate means that every one of the 605 murders committed since the inception of the single national service in 2013, has been solved.
In addition, a significant number of ‘cold cases’, some committed many decades ago, have also been detected with the culprits identified, often using the latest technologies, and brought to trial. These have included the murders of Brenda Page (1978) and Renee MacRae (1976). https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2023/october/homicides-in-scotland-2022-23/
BBC Scotland? Several tabloid specials on single cases but not a trace of the above information that the public might want to know about.
How do England and Wales compare? See the table above.
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The 'Unstoppable' Talking-up Scotland 
To reinforce the positives:
From the website of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (January 2026): ‘The Pros And Pitfalls Of Police Reform’. (https://scottishpolicesupers.org/2026/01/27/the-pros-and-pitfalls-of-police-reform/ )
‘.. since the inception of Police Scotland there has been a 100% solvency rate for murder in Scotland. In fact, you need to go back more than two decades to 2004 until you find an unsolved murder. That is an astonishing feat; one that is hard to find replicated elsewhere. (my emphasis) There is no doubt all of Scotland has benefitted from equitable access to the skilled specialists who have achieved this.
‘The strength of being able to access both specialist resources and muster strength in numbers has also been evident in the handling of major incidents and large-scale public events. Time and again, when placed on the world stage by events and associated scrutiny, Police Scotland has acquitted itself creditably and enhanced its reputation.
‘As is the case with so much in life: context matters. The decision to merge and create Police Scotland came at a time of unprecedented public sector austerity.
‘The creation of Police Scotland protected overall police numbers at a time when forces in England and Wales saw officer numbers plummet by 20,000, roughly 15% of the overall officer workforce. Given the extent to which Home Office forces are still struggling with the consequences of that deficit today, some would argue that fact alone makes the case for Police Scotland and by extension, large scale mergers.’
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