Police officers '˜bogged down' by paperwork warns chief

Police Scotland Chief Constable Philip Gormley (left) talks to police officers with Tasers outside Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 28, 2017. Police officers carrying Tasers will now patrol outside the Scottish Parliament. MSPs have been informed of the increased security following last week's Westminster attack. Police Scotland said the measure was an operational contingency matter and was not based on any intelligence threat in relation to Holyrood. See PA story POLICE Scotland. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Phil Gormley said Police Scotland faced a “bottomless demand” from the public and would be able to “do more” with more officers.

The country’s most senior police officer was responding to a question about his force’s ability to prevent a Barcelona-style terrorist attack using community policing.

He said too many of his officers remained on desk duties, jobs which could be better done by police staff.

Since its creation in 2013, Police Scotland has shed thousands of civilian workers, leaving police officers to take on their work.

During a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority yesterday, board member Graham Houston asked if Police Scotland had enough resources to allow for the sort of community officers which could prevent a terrorist attack.

Mr Gormley said: “That’s a very complicated question to answer.

“We’ve got officers who are, in my view, bogged down in unnecessary bureaucracy and are doing jobs that police staff could more effectively do.”

The chief constable said policing was an “ever-more complicated challenge” which would be easier with more officers.

He added: “Of course I would like more. The reality is that there is a bottomless demand from the public. The public want to see a visible presence in their communities which is available, known, recognised and trusted and is often typified as the officer on foot. They also want immediate response at the point of crisis and emergency.”

Publishing its ten-year strategy earlier this year, Police Scotland said it would cut 400 officers by 2020.

Mr Gormley said his force was looking at officer deployment as part of the strategy, but he said it did not yet have the necessary “level of sophistication” needed, with many officers doing largely the same as they were when Police Scotland was formed in April 2013.

He added: “If more resource would come available, we could do more. At the heart of what the public want is that visible presence in the community and we know it’s the lifeblood in terms of criminal intelligence...If we have more, we can do more.”

David Hamilton, vice chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “I just cannot understand why they [Police Scotland] are thinking about cutting 400 officers – it’s absolutely incredible.

“There are so many different fronts in policing right now, it’s about how on earth you tackle them. You can’t just say cutting bureaucracy will help because it won’t.”