Scotland now has more police officers than at any stage in the past, according to Scottish Government statistics.
Scotland now has more police officers than at any stage in the past, according to Scottish Government statistics.
Quarterly figures for the three months to September put the number of officers at 16,526 - almost 200 more than for the previous three months and nearly 300 more than at March 2007.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said forces had already recruited 440 of the 450 officers that the government had pledged to recruit by the end of next March.
The latest increases include 137 more officers in the Strathclyde force, 16 in Central and 10 more in both Tayside and Northern.
The plan is to recruit a further 200 additional officers nationally in 2009/10, and 200 more in 2010/11.
However, the figures are offset by a high number of retirals, with as many as 7500 officers who joined in the late 1970s predicted to quit between 2004 and 2011.
Last night, Labour cast doubt on whether the SNP administration can deliver its pledge to have 1000 extra officers trained and in post by the next election.
The Tories, who pushed the Nationalists on police figures ahead of agreeing to their budget earlier this year, gave the latest figures a cautious welcome.
