From Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 30 June 2026 published today:

• there were 16,402 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2026
• police officer numbers decreased by 29 FTE officers (-0.2%) in the last quarter from 31 March 2026
• police officer numbers decreased by 25 FTE officers (-0.2%) in the last year from 30 June 2025
• this is an increase of 168 FTE police officers (+1.0%) from the 16,234 FTE police officers recorded at 31 March 2007

Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/police-officer-quarterly-strength-statistics-30-june-2026/

In 2025/2026, total crimes in Scotland have fallen dramatically from around 500 000 in 2007/2008 to 315 357 in 2025/2026, a massive 37% reduction. Yet, despite that, police officer staffing remains slightly higher than that in the time of far greater crime.

Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2025-26/