SNP party conference: MacAskill vows to show the UK how policing can be done

An INDEPENDENT Scotland will show the rest of the UK how “policing can really be done”, justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said yesterday.

But there would still be full co-operation on cross-border crime if Scots decide to leave the UK in the 2014 referendum, he told the final day of the SNP conference.

Mr MacAskill will open the Association of Chief Police Officers’ annual conference for England and Wales next week.

“I’ll assure them that in an independent Scotland we’ll continue to remember those who have given their lives and co-operate across the Border in tackling crime wherever it may be,” Mr MacAskill said. “Mutual aid will continue to be given by Scottish police, as with supporting the Olympic Games or tackling rioting in English cities.

“Mutual aid will continue to be reciprocated here by English and Welsh officers, as for the Commonwealth Games in 2014. Mutual aid will continue whenever it is felt necessary and appropriate by our Chief Constable.

“But in an independent Scotland we can show them how policing can really be done. Properly resourced, devoid of political interference and respectful to those who serve.”

The government is to invest £7.5 million over three years to help break reoffending cycles, while £46m seized from criminals has been invested in community projects.

“We are turning people around from a life of crime,” the justice secretary added. But Scotland lacked the powers to protect communities, because control over issues such as shotgun certificates, rising police pension contributions and the rising retirement age of prison officers.

“The time has come to take charge in our own land.”