Policing crisis as public lose confidence in force

NEARLY two out of five Scots lack confidence in police responding to their calls, a survey has found.

The online poll by Police Scotland – completed by about 10,000 people – was set up to gauge perception of policing and identify public priorities.

But it revealed a crisis of confidence in police willingness or ability to follow up on calls from members of the public. The figures come after the M9 tragedy last year, when Lamara Bell was left dying for three days after a road crash amid allegations of police call-handling failures.

More than 80 per cent also believed crime in their area had remained static or risen in the past year, despite an overall fall in recorded crime across Scotland.

The figures suggest official attempts at restoring credibility to the cash-strapped force are foundering and come after Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), warned last week that some officers were having to buy equipment from charity shops.

Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘I know our officers are doing their best for their local communities but many of the centralised policies and a one-size-fits-all approach have resulted in lower morale among officers and it seems also with the public.

‘There’s certainly a lot of hard work to be done to restore people’s faith in the single force.’ The survey, carried out between April and June, showed 37.9 per cent of respondents had low or very low confidence in police responding to their concerns.

Some 63 per cent did not know how to contact their local team.

The SNP has repeatedly claimed that recorded crime is at a record low, but separate police figures last month showed violent and sexual crimes had increased between 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Yet recorded crime in Scotland overall has fallen by 3.2 per cent in the past year, according to the provisional Police Scotland data.

Yesterday Mr Steele said the new survey had borne out the SPF’s concerns about the effect of budgetary constraints on the

‘A lot of hard work to be done’

quality of service offered. He highlighted the fact that 81.5 per cent of the public perceive crime has remained static or increased, adding: ‘With a skint and overstretched service, that’s a worry.’

Commenting on the findings, a Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Public perception is an important element of ensuing communities feel safe and we will continue to do all we can to inform them factually of performance at local and national level.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Recorded crime in Scotland is at a 41-year low, with violent crime down by more than half since 2006-07.’

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