Scottish Liberal Democrats want to help the police and communities work together to cut crime.

Mike Pringle with members of the Lothian and Borders Police Force

But the fight against crime in Scotland is now under threat from plans by the SNP and Labour to centralise our police. Under their plans local police forces would be disbanded. Under Labour or the SNP every police officer would be allocated according to national directions not local policing need. That could mean your local police seeing dozens of officers sent to support other areas hundreds of miles away.

Liberal Democrats are concerned that by creating a national police force, the chief constable will come under the political control of a government minister and will lose their links with local communities.

We are also concerned that the cost of centralisation, building a new HQ and new IT systems will costs a fortune and will cost police jobs.

The government has refused to answer repeated questions about how much their plans will cost, fuelling fears that police officers will lose their jobs to pay for the changes. Some chief constables have estimated it could cost the jobs of 4,000 police officers.

Liberal Democrats want to keep policing local, help the local police to work with the local community and to keep the number of officers high.

In challenging the First Minister about the plans, Tavish Scott said: “This is a slippery slope to one police force. For 150 years people in this democracy have worried about the government gaining political operational control over policing. The First Minister refuses to see that a National Police Board, appointed without debate in this Parliament - and with no basis in law - moves us down that dangerous road.”

“We need a police service that is responsive to local needs not subject to central diktat and centrally imposed targets.”

Join the campaign on Facebook here.

Sign our petition

I/we call for the SNP Government and the Labour Party to abandon their expensive plans to reorganise the police. We want local police, accountable to local communities;