Overview

This month, I provide an overview of disruption and enforcement, including dozens of arrests, in response to targeted attacks in the East and West of Scotland, under Operation Portaledge.

I want to begin by condemning the actions of those involved and thanking our communities for their support and assistance in making Scotland a hostile environment for those involved in organised crime.

A team of detectives is working closely with local policing officers and operational support colleagues. I also want to recognise and thank Scottish Police Authority Forensics for their contribution to what is one of our largest ongoing investigations.

Our commitment to tackling organised crime is also underlined by Operation Intensity, which has resulted in 100 arrests as well as the seizure of illegal drugs and firearms.

We’ll continue to work with partners at international, national, regional and local levels to clear organised crime and build resilience in communities and I want to thank colleagues in local authorities and the Scottish Fire and Rescue for their support.

I highlight our approach to on-street prostitution, which focuses on targeted action to signpost women to support while deterring kerb crawling. Prostitution is a form of violence against women and girls and our approach seeks to build trust and confidence in policing, while making communities safer and supporting victims.

Road safety continues to be an important focus for Police Scotland as part of a broader partnership approach to reduce the devastation of fatal and serious collisions.

I’m hugely grateful to Iain Dominick who powerfully shared the story of his son Ross, who tragically lost his life, to support our plea to all road users to look twice and prevent further deaths.

Preventing harm and stopping crime before it happens is key to getting on top of demand and I outline partnership work with Trading Standards to prevent door-step crime.

Earlier this month, we also outlined our approach to strengthening our response to cyber enabled crime during an evidence session at the Scottish Parliament.

My report outlines just a few examples of how Police Scotland is delivering for communities. That can only be achieved by our professional, skilled and dedicated workforce.

Last Thursday, as part of our ongoing officer recruitment campaign, members of our Chief Officer Team welcomed new probationary constables to Police Scotland at events across the country.

I also outline the fantastic successes of our valued Special Constables who came together for their annual conference earlier this month.

This report sets out that we have received pay award claims from both officers and staff, while also describing some family friendly policies introduced as part of our efforts to improve total reward for our people.

Through our workforce survey, we know we must do more to connect with our people and I outline engagement sessions with officers and staff to continue to share our vision for policing and provide a clear message that everyone in Police Scotland has a role in delivering for our communities.

At the same time, I continue to advocate for policing and lead strategic engagement with key partners and civic society and I detail some of this work.

Such sessions are important opportunities to continue to be the good partner that Police Scotland is, while also being confident about our strength, our story and our success.

Lastly, Audit Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland have published the scope of their joint best value audit of policing in Scotland, including Police Scotland.
Policing in Scotland, including Police Scotland, the Authority, and SPA Forensics, has a strong evidence base of delivering best value and I welcome the audit as an opportunity to support our commitment to continuous improvement.