Chou Turvey: Police Scotland's shrunken force numbers must be boosted

Scottish Liberal Democrats have called on the Scottish Government to take action to bolster Police Scotland after the force's latest statistics showed its officer numbers still dramatically below their peak.

According to Police Scotland's quarterly strength statistics, there were 16,553 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 September 2026. That means the force has 943 fewer FTE officers than it did when it was first formed in 2013.

In fact, Police Scotland has never boasted the same number of FTE officers as it did at the point it was reformed into a single force.

Commenting on the figures, Scottish Liberal Democrats justice spokesperson Yi-pei Chou Turvey said:

"These figures are depressing, but they only show one part of the story.

"While officer numbers have fallen dramatically since the pandemic, officers are also coping with other personnel cuts that have left them with unmanageable workloads - including cases that should be handled by other types of staff who are no longer there to help.

"It's nearly a decade and a half since Police Scotland came into being. Today, the public are forced to deal with persistent anti-social behaviour and other crimes while officers are stuck handling complex cases that take them away from frontline policing.

"With the SNP's public sector reform plans still not fully clear, the public need reassuring that the Scottish Government will make sure Police Scotland has the workforce it needs to cope with the caseload it faces."