Tha suidheachadh nam poileas ann an èiginn - Murray MacLeòid

Agus, mar a tha Murray MacLeòid ag ràdh, tha e nas miosa buileach air an tuath

Chan e càil ùr a th’ ann a' dol a ghearan mu chion poilis is cion taice, le rabhaidhean g’ eil cùisean a-nis air ìre èiginneach a ruighinn, agus glè thric leis na rudan sin, mar as fhaide a-mach a ghluaiseas tu bhon mheadhan, ‘s ann nas miosa a tha e a’ fàs.

Tha fhios gun robh beachd a choireigin aig an fhear a chaidh a chur ann an dreuchd àrd-Superintendent na Gàidhealtachd ‘s nan Eilean, Ron Shepherd, air a sin nuair a thòisich e dìreach am bliadhna.

Ach, a-rèir na tha e ag ràdh gu poblach a-nis, chan eil mi ag ràdh nach do chlìsg e beagan nuair a thàinig e gu soilleir dìreach dè cho duilich ‘s a tha cùisean.

Gu mì-fhortnach dha na h-àrd-cheannardan, agus dha Riaghaltas na h-Alba, chan eil càil a' choltais g’ eil e a' dol a dh’fhuireach balbh mu dheidhinn a bharrachd. Tha mi a’ crèids' g’ eil 20 bliadhna anns a' Mhet dualtach beagan de chnàmh-droma a thoirt dhut.

Gu cinnteach, chan robh càil a leisg air anns an agallamh a thug e seachad dha iris nam poileas, 1919, agus e ag ràdh g’ eileas air dìochuimhneachadh mu dheidhinn na seirbheise air an iomall agus g’ eil cus dhe na co-dhùnaidhenh air an gabhail fàd às (nise càite an cuala sinn sin ron seo?)

Thuirt e sna dhà no thrì mhìosan a tha esan air a bhith san dreuchd, gu bheil e air “barrachd ùine a chur seachad a’ mìneachadh nan dùbhlan anns a’ Ghàidhealtachd is na h-Eileanan na chuir e a-riamh seachad a’ bruidhinn mu leithid Croydon”.

“Mar bhuidheann, tha e na dhuilgheadas – ‘s tha an aon rud fìor leis an NHS, na comhairlean agus na seirbhisean-smàlaidh – g’ eil na co-dhùnaidhean mòra gu lèir gan gabhail ann am meadhan na h-Alba,” thuirt e. “Ach, na rudan a tha ag obair ann an sin, ‘s dòcha nach obraich iad an seo. Ro thric, tha sinn a’ cluinntinn: ‘Dh’obraich seo an Glaschu agus feumaidh a-rèisd a h-uile duine a dhèanamh’.”

Thuirt e g’ eil suidheachadh an ionmhais “dha-rìribh duilich” agus g’ eil iad a’ dol a chall 600 oifigear. Bidh sin a’ ciallachadh còrr air 20 air a' Ghàidhealtachd.

Às dèidh dha cùis a thachair anns na h-Eileanan an Iar bho chionn ghoirid a mhìneachadh, tha e coltach gum bi sin do-dhèanta gabhail ris.

Dh’innis e mu thachartas ann am Beinn a’ Bhaoghla far an deach fear a chur fo ghrèim airson droch ionnsaigh. B’ fheudar do dhà phoileas a thighinn a-steach air an là dheth aca son dèiligeadh ris agus a thoirt chun an aiseig.

Dh’fheumadh dà oifigear eile dràibheadh sìos à Steòrnabhagh airson an coinneachadh agus am fear a bha seo a thoirt suas an rathad. Agus fhad ‘s a bha na tha seo a’ dol air adhart, le cion oifigear mar a bha, bha e a' ciallachadh nach robh poileas sam bith ri fhaighinn airson Leòdhas is na Hearadh gu lèir - sin airson sluagh le barrachd air 20,000 duine.

Tha sinn eòlach gu leòr air luchd-poileataigs is caidreachas nam poileas a bhith a’ gearan mu dhìth ionmhais is eile. Ach ‘s e rud gu tur eile a tha anns na h-àrd-oifigearan ag ràdh nach urrainn dhaibh coimhearsnachdan a chumail sàbhailte ri linn. Mura faigh sin èisteachd, chan eil fhios dè gheibh.

The staffing crisis engulfing Police Scotland is hardly new, with warnings that it is reaching a crisis point, but as with many of these things, the further away you travel from the centre the worse it gets.

The new divisional commander for the Highlands and Islands, Rob Shepherd, appointed in January this year, would surely have some idea of what awaited him, but as his public comments now show, the scale of the challenge is formidable. After 20 years with the Met, he seems ready for it.

In an interview with the in-house police magazine, 1919, he says that much more needs to be done for rural policing and attacked the tendency for centralised decision-making (now where have we heard that before?)

He said that in the few months he has been divisional commander he has “spent more time explaining the challenges of policing the Highlands and Islands than I ever did the challenges of policing Croydon”.

“Organisationally, there is the challenge – and my colleagues in the NHS, local authorities and fire brigade face the same – that all of our decision-making nationally sits in the central belt,” he said.

“Things that work there don’t necessarily work here. We are often faced with ‘there’s been a pilot in Glasgow and it’s fantastic so everyone’s going to do it’.”

Describing the current financial situation as a “massive challenge”, he said the force is looking at losing another 600 officers which, all things being equal, would mean 21 across his division.

And that’s something they can ill afford, as he cited a recent example in the Western Isles.

A violent assault in Benbecula saw the island’s two police officers – both of whom were off duty at the time – recalled to work. They made an arrest and had to stay overnight with the suspect until the first ferry to Stornoway the next morning.

The early shift in Stornoway, meanwhile, had to drive two and a half hours to Leverburgh to meet the two officers from Benbecula, where they handed over the man they had arrested.

They then went back to the island after having worked around 16 hours each – on their day off – while the Stornoway cops spent their whole shift dealing with the suspect and travelling.

And in the meantime while all this was taking place, due to staffing pressures, there was no-one left at all to police all of Lewis or Harris - a population of over 20,000.

Complaints from opposition politicians and the police federation have been too easily brushed off. But when some of the top commanders are now raising their voice, then it brings a new dimension to it all. The time for action on rural policing is way past.