3 - 4 June 2010
REVIEW

President of ACPOS
& Chief Constable
Patrick Shearer

Patrick Shearer, Chief Constable of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and President of ACPOS, said:

“We do not under-estimate the scale of the challenge that we face, nor do we over-state the full commitment of the police service to meet that challenge.  We are anticipating that by 2014, the policing budget in Scotland could be reduced by as much as twelve to fifteen percent. 

“Both within forces and across ACPOS, there is considerable work ongoing to meet this budgetary challenge. Forces have begun considering their organisational structures, flattening ranks, broadening spans of responsibility and in some areas have frozen the recruitment of police staff.  There are also a number of other work streams progressing including: increased
collaborative working between forces and partner organisations, process review, income generation and best practice.  All these seek to identify opportunities for savings in order to maintain the key services for our communities.

“Crime in Scotland is currently at its lowest level in thirty years and our focus is to maintain this positive progress and performance whilst operating within reduced budgets.  Although this will be a challenge, I am confident that we will negotiate the difficult times ahead and continue to deliver a strong policing service in Scotland.

“The key message from our conference is that extreme partnership and a firm focus on working together, both within ACPOS and across the public, private and voluntary sectors, are essential if we are to deliver better outcomes to Build a Safer, Stronger Scotland.”