Chief Constable praises response officers during Week of Action

Chief Constable Jo Farrell paid tribute to response officers during a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority yesterday (Thursday 27 June).

Speaking during the National Police Chiefs’ Council Response Policing Week of Action, the Chief thanked response officers for their bravery, compassions and resilience as the first police contact across countless scenarios and times of crisis.

The Chief said senior officers had been visiting response teams across the country to thank them in person and listen to their experiences.

CC Farrell said: “Response officers work around the clock to serve the public with bravery, compassion and resilience across countless scenarios – no two shifts are the same. Response officers are often the first contact the public has with their police service, and often in moments of crisis and criticality.

“I’ve been clear that it is my duty to support frontline policing and my aim is to bring the frontline to its strongest possible position. I want to record my deep gratitude for our response officers and I know senior officers right across the country are taking time to recognise and thank their teams.”

Chief Constable Farrell provided a wide ranging update on how officers and staff are delivering for the public, including securing important convictions in murder and organised crime cases.

The Chief’s speaking note is below

This week Police Scotland is recognising and celebrating the vital role and contribution of response policing as part of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Response Policing Week of Action.

Response officers work around the clock to serve the public with bravery, compassion and resilience across countless scenarios – no two shifts are the same. Response officers are often the first contact the public has with their police service, and often in moments of crisis and criticality.

I’ve been clear that it is my duty to support frontline policing and my aim is to bring the frontline to its strongest possible position. I want to record my deep gratitude for our response officers and I know senior officers right across the country are taking time to recognise and thank their teams.

My report outlines how officers and staff are delivering for the public every day – investigating crime; securing court outcomes; and seizing illegal drugs.

This summer, policing is also supporting major events, including hugely popular music concerts, sporting events, festivals and a general election. I want to thank the officers and staff who plan and support our proportionate and appropriate policing response to ensure communities can enjoy events safely and participate in the democratic process.

Since appointment, I’ve underlined that as policing tackles threat, harm and risk, we must also focus on prevention and problem solving to support communities, eliminate harm and get on top of demand.

This month, we’re campaigning to reduce road casualties with a focus on wearing seatbelts and we’ve shared powerful testimony from people affected by road traffic collisions. I thank those who bravely shared their experiences in an effort to prevent further harm.

Introducing change that achieves efficiencies and benefits is critical to provide effective service.

We’ve now outlined a national contract to implement body worn video for over 10,000 frontline officers and staff across Scotland, over the next three years.

Motorola Solutions was awarded the contract on the basis of quality and value for money and a range of technical requirements. The new system is anticipated to work smoothly in areas with lower quality network connections, including rural locations, and we are also investing in our network capability to support this.

Body worn video can help to de-escalate incidents, improve public trust in policing and reduce complaints, support officer and staff safety, and bring wider benefits to the criminal justice system and I have been clear a national roll-out is a priority for me.

We know there is strong public and partner support for body worn video in Scotland and we will continue to explain policing’s use of this important technology, including assurance around data privacy and human rights considerations.

The national roll out of body worn video is a complex programme of work.  Appointing a supplier is an important step and we are working with Motorola Solutions to ensure that body worn video is embedded effectively for frontline officers and staff as soon as possible and we’ll continue to share details as progress is made.

I have highlighted that innovation and system-wide improvement must be prioritised and accelerated across the criminal justice system and, as we roll out body worn video, we’re working with Motorola Solutions and partners to maximise its benefits to improve efficiencies and experiences for victims.

My report details other work with the Scottish Government, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to support better and quicker court outcomes for victims and to provide efficiency and value for the public and I am grateful for their engagement and commitment to those shared goals.

The time it takes for victims to get justice in this system is far too long. Victims and witnesses, including police witnesses, are repeatedly cited to court when they are not giving evidence.

Along with accelerating broader change across the criminal justice system, I want key partners, including the third sector, to help us find a balance around the care, support and monitoring of people suffering with poor mental health that officers are too often picking up.

We receive a mental health related call every three-four minutes on average and each year officers deploy to well over 100,000 mental health related incidents – the equivalent work of between 500 and 600 full time officers.

I’ve asked Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs to lead Police Scotland’s work with partners including the Authority and the Scottish Government and we’ve established a mental health taskforce to drive work in this priority area at pace.

The taskforce will develop and embed referral pathways such as the NHS Mental Health Pathway and Distress Brief Intervention, as well as operational guidance on how to access community triage, so the public get the right response from those best able to give people the help they need and deserve.

The taskforce will also build on training to give our people the knowledge, skills and confidence to support that balance around the care, support and monitoring in our day to day policing.

Of course, policing cannot succeed in this without the support and engagement of partners. There are localised examples of fantastic initiatives such as the Neuk in Perth which I visited in April.

But we need more of this, right across the country.

We want to work with partners to ensure there is the right capability and capacity in the system, while giving officers and staff the knowledge and tools to help people access the best help for them.

Moving on, I want to briefly highlight three events which are further detailed in my report.

I was grateful for the leadership, contribution and support of the Scottish Police Authority and you, Chair, for the first Scottish Biometrics Conference which the Authority and Police Scotland jointly hosted with the Biometrics Commissioner Dr Brian Plastow in Edinburgh last week.

The event was an important opportunity to continue the necessary public conversation about policing’s ethical use of biometrics data and new technology where it can help us discharge our positive duty to keep people safe.

We welcomed around 50 law enforcement colleagues, mostly from the United States as the Federal Bureau of Investigations hosted a cycle of their National Executive Institute programme for senior officers at Police Scotland Headquarters. Along with other Police Scotland chief officers, I addressed the delegates during this important example of our commitment to sharing learning on an international scale.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to and attended our recruitment open day hosted at our Recruitment and Training Centre at Jackton, in South Lanarkshire. The showcase was well attended and gave members of the public an insight into our varied, rewarding and demanding vocation.

My report also outlines the deployment of over 190 probationary officers to local policing following the completion of their initial training earlier this month.

It is important to say we are recruiting – particularly for police officers and for staff in our contact centres and I would encourage anyone who shares our values, who wants to help us keep people safe and who is interested in a hugely rewarding career to visit the recruitment area of our website.

We have provided an overview of the projected recruitment and officer headcount profile during 2024-25 which will be presented by DCC Speirs later. As Chief Constable, I would just make a few brief comments at this stage.

We know a number of factors, going back to recruitment and training being paused during the pandemic and COP26 and an increase in retirement following pension changes, along with a recruitment pause to ensure we delivered a balanced budget in 2023-24, have contributed to greater volatility in officer numbers than would otherwise be the case.

Police Scotland’s retention rate is in line with other large police services.

So far in 2024, as with previous years, we continue to see the majority of officers leave for retirement. Although our retention rate is good, I do recognise policing is a demanding job and I’m focused on improving the experiences of officers and staff.

As I mentioned earlier, I want to bring the frontline of policing to its strongest possible position. The context of that strength goes beyond an overall officer headcount and it is important we continue to maximise experienced officers performing frontline, operational policing for our communities.

At the same time, following the Scottish Budget announcement, I outlined our plans to restart officer recruitment in March and further intakes planned during 2024-25 total over 1300 officers, the highest number Police Scotland has recruited during a year.

As part of this, we’re introducing a non-residential course operated from Jackton which, as well as increasing our recruitment capacity, recognises the barriers a residential training programme can present for potential candidates.

In summary, increasing officer numbers is a focus and we’re testing innovative approaches to maximise our probationer training capacity, while at the same time pressing change that strengthens the frontline by redirecting resources or delivering efficiencies.

Lastly, my report details changes to leadership responsibilities within the Force Executive following the appointments of Stuart Houston, Catr​iona Paton and Mark Sutherland as Assistant Chief Constables.

Our refreshed Force Executive has a shared focus to evolve our service so policing can live within our means and to ensure we support our fantastic officers and staff, to deliver the best for our communities.