Last year on April 1, the day Police Scotland came into being, the Scottish Government declared that having a single unified police service would improve local accountability.
Has that been the case so far? That is a moot point. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie's comments to the effect that the creation of Police Scotland has resulted in Strathclyde Police effectively "taking over" the whole country is putting it a little strongly, as is the claim that local services have been "asset-stripped". But there is legitimate concern about the extent to which Glasgow-style policing has been rolled out nationwide and how local links between police and communities can be preserved when public counters are to be closed at 61 police stations.
One casualty of the drive to standardise policing across Scotland has been Edinburgh's long-standing policy of licensing saunas. This meant police effectively turning a blind eye to the sex trade; the policy was also felt to improve the safety of sex workers. It came to an ignominious end last summer when police raided Edinburgh's saunas; their licenses have now been revoked.
There has also been disquiet at the use of stop-and-search countrywide, a technique much used in Glasgow. It must be said that stop-and-search was successful in helping contribute to a further drop in violent crime in Scotland last year. This is reinforced by news today that the number of people found to have handled an offensive weapon has dropped by two-thirds in seven years. Nevertheless, the policy has attracted objections on civil liberties grounds.
All 32 local authorities have an individual policing plan and every multi-member council ward in Scotland has its own local policing plan but that has not been enough to placate those worried about the loss of local responsiveness. At less than a year old, Police Scotland is in many ways functioning very well, but it is a work in progress. Mr Rennie is right that once local police counters and five regional control rooms are shut, it is unlikely they will be reinstated.
MSPs have been investigating whether local policing has changed and whether services are still as responsive to local needs as they were. This is important work since, even at a time of budgetary constraint, police officers must remain fully accountable to the communities they serve.
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