Writing off minor crime risks civil unrest, rank and file warn Police Scotland trends now
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Police plans to ditch the investigation of thousands of minor crimes could lead to vigilantism and ‘civil unrest’, it was warned yesterday.
Rank-and-file officers said people could take the law into their own hands if the force was seen to be stepping back from probing crime.
They also warned it was in danger of becoming ‘irrelevant’.
The row comes ahead of a Scottish Police Authority (SPA) public board meeting today when the new ‘proportionate response’ will be discussed.
Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond has said the move will free up time for hard-working personnel to ‘re-charge’ and recover from the trauma of the job. But David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), representing rank-and-file officers, said: ‘It would be impossible to rule out the possibility of people taking the law into their own hands.’
On LinkedIn, retired Tayside Police chief inspector Dave Barclay said dropping minor crime probes meant there was ‘potential for civil unrest with mavericks
