Now that The Herald, finally, has seen Police Scotland's targets for its first year - despite the force refusing to release them under a freedom of information (FOI) request - the question now is:
what are we to make of them?
It is certainly welcome that the targets for 2013/14 are finally in the public domain despite Police Scotland's efforts to resist disclosure. Under the old structure of eight forces, such information was always available to the public and there is no convincing reason why it should not remain so. Police Scotland refused The Herald's FOI request on the grounds that the figures were under discussion, but even if we accept that tables of targets will always require context and definition, there is no legitimate reason for preventing the public seeing them.
As for the figures themselves, they are likely to provoke a mixed reaction from those who are concerned about crime or have some reservations about the direction of Scotland's new police force.
What the targets reveal on rape, for example, is of concern. We have known for a long time that the conviction rate in Scotland is woeful, but there has at least been an improvement in how the police handle the offence from the moment a victim approaches them. However, what the Police Scotland targets reveal is that the force is falling short on its ambition of making contact with every single victim within 24 hours and that is a target it must do more to meet, and urgently.
On speeding and seat-belt offences, the picture looks much better. The force is exceeding its targets on these and other offences and on the face of it, that is good news because ensuring drivers keep within the limit and wear their seat-belts can save lives.
However, what the bald figures on road offences conceal is concern among some officers that focusing on targets on speeding and other driving offences is not necessarily the best way to use their time. Margaret Mitchell, the Scottish Conservatives' justice spokeswoman, has pointed out that having officers sitting in a patrol car at the side of the road may not be the most efficient way to catch speeders.
Another concern about such a strategy is that officers may end up focusing on targets rather than the longer-term outcomes. As David O'Connor, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, says in The Herald today, the emphasis of Police Scotland should be on reducing road-traffic accidents. However, the danger is that officers choose to police a road where they know they can easily boost their targets rather than a road where accident rates are high.
Police Scotland has always denied targets work in this way and that officers have individual targets to meet, although we know that is, in effect, what happens. In the end, there is nothing in principle wrong with targets - and if they exist, they should be in the public domain - but Police Scotland must always ensure that such targets serve the force's primary aim: to reduce crime and keep the public safe.
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