Reform Scotland come up with a crackpot report saying there should be 32 Chief Constables and Police Forces in Scotland, complete and utter rubbish

Dear All

Reform Scotland is a think-tank.

They are urging Scottish Government Ministers to reject proposals for a single Scottish police force.

Their pitch is that there should be a radical expansion of new local divisions.

Last September, I trotted into the SNP National Assembly and proposed a single national police force and also a single national fire service.

George Laird radical thinking!

As well as that I have proposed an expansion of the numbers of Special Constables, the retention of local boards, a national police board, zoneing and a special Holyrood oversight committee to put in place the checks and balances to ensure transparency and accountability.

However Reform Scotland suggests establishing a force in each of the country's 32 local authority areas.

Where do they get their half arsed ill-thought out ideas?

32 forces in 32 local authority areas is compete nonsense.

The new forces would be overseen by a chief constable, 32 of them.

The idea of a single force was outlined in a government consultation on the future of the police service.

Although Ministers are yet to announce their preferred choice, not to go with a single national police force would be a massive misstep on their part.

And I am not talking about the historical significance rather the operational aspects of improvement which would be achieved.

Reform Scotland's report is called ‘Striking the Balance’, it describes discrepancies in crime detection between existing forces and highlights structures in other countries including Belgium, which the report says has 196 forces.

Alison Payne, one of the report's authors, said:

"Instead of one police chief accountable to central government, we want police chiefs accountable to local communities, while strengthening the role of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency will mean that there is greater capacity for providing co-ordinating and supporting roles from the centre."

The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency has to go, it should be emerged into the single national force.

Fiefdoms must end and a wider pool of investigative talent made available to improve crime detection.

It’s a no brainer.

A Scottish Government spokesman said:

"A consultation on the future of Scotland's police service closed last month and the responses will be published in due course. These responses, together with the developing evidence, will be taken into account."

It’s a national single police force, anything else is unacceptable.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University