Police chief opposed to single force

The region’s new chief constable has spoken out against a single Scottish police force saying radical changes will be costly, disruptive and distracting.

George Graham argues there are risks involved in the move and the level and quality of service and public confidence in the police force could be affected.

Mr Graham attended his first meeting of the Northern Joint Police Board this week taking over from Ian Latimer who retired earlier this month but who was also an outspoken critic of the changes.

Board members decided to back the retention of all eight forces in Scotland and were unanimously opposed to the idea of a single force.

They met to decide their response to a Scottish Government consultation on the future of policing which must be submitted before the deadline on 5th May.

The chief constable told them: “Experience tells me that radical structural change will undoubtedly be disruptive; it will be distracting and it will cost a lot of money, usually a lot more money than has been predicted.”

The board — made of councillors from across the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland — wants to see an enhanced form of the existing eight-force system, which it insists is delivering an excellent performance in the area.

It has also agreed to consider a regional model, which could include the addition of Argyll, Bute and Moray, to form a North of Scotland force.

Mr Graham is adamant that “strong and compelling” evidence would be needed to convince him of the merits of any switch from the current set-up and fears a new system might have negative repercussions from the public.

Under the blueprint for a single force, the number of senior officers in the Northern Constabulary area would be cut to leave a single superintendent for Inverness and inspectors in charge of the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.

“There are risks from radical changes,” Mr Graham, the former deputy chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway, commented.

“There are risks to the level and quality of service we are currently delivering; public engagement and, of course, public confidence in local policing.

“I don’t think there is anybody in the police service who would deny the need for change.

“But I often get quite frustrated by people saying the status quo is not an option because in my 28 years experience I?couldn’t describe what the? status quo is, apart from a rock group in the 1970s!

“The service is something that has evolved and is constantly adjusting to the demands of our communities.”

After the meeting he said he would fight to ensure services were protected in the north if his position and Northern Constabulary were ultimately abolished by an incoming Scottish government.

“If I don’t exist as a chief constable because I have been phased out, my job, in the run-up to that, is to make sure the policing services, in partnership with other public agencies, is well protected so that communities here are not at a disadvantage,” he said.

“I will have to make sure that all the things we value and are important to the communities in the Highlands and Islands are in some way protected and hopefully improved.”

Board member, Inverness Central councillor Peter Corbett, described it as a no-brainer that a single service would not satisfy the area and its convener, Councillor Norman MacLeod, pointed out the force was renowned for its strong performance with crime reduction and high annual detection rates.

“If something is not broken, why fix it?” he asked.

“There needs to be a greater appreciation and understanding of the diverse nature of the communities across the Highlands and Islands and acknowledgement that one model of policing will not fit all.”

Mr Latimer previously suggested any financial savings made by a change would translate into the loss of thousands of support staff and officers across Scotland at the expense of safe communities and successful convictions.

Superintendent John Darcy, chairman of the Northern branch of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, has also branded the single force idea as sparse, shallow and riddled with assumptions, when he wrote to The Inverness Courier in December last year.

Labour and Conservatives are for a single force, while the SNP has said it will give its views following consultation on the proposals. Only the Lib-Dems have come out against.