Police Scotland Acquisitive Crime Portfolio

ACC Tim Mairs is the dedicated strategic lead for acquisitive crime. Further governance and assurance is provided through the revised Police Scotland Performance Board and our Performance Framework. The Police Scotland force, regional and divisional tasking boards provide a tactical response that promotes effective local responses and collaborative working.

As with other crime types, the methodologies used to commit certain types of acquisitive crime, namely fraud, are rapidly evolving with the advent of new technologies.

While fraud and robbery are considered acquisitive crimes, they are managed under the portfolios of ACC Freeburn and ACC Sutherland respectively. This is due to their inextricable link to both cyber-crime and violence.

A Local Policing Detective Superintendent has been appointed as the national acquisitive crime tactical lead. The Detective Superintendent is assisted by three Detective Chief Inspectors at a regional level, who provide the coordinated response the national approach requires, while ensuring divisions are supported at a local level.

The National Rural, Acquisitive and Business Prevention Team (RAB-PT), and the National Acquisitive Crime Group (NACG) - which includes key non-police partners - provide support and coordination in relation to the preventative, protective and preparedness aspects of acquisitive crime, as well as an intelligence led focus on identifying crime trends and ensuring appropriate responses are developed to the highest tariff offending.

Appreciating the importance of a partnership approach to achieve positive long-lasting outcomes, the Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime (SPAACE), of which Police Scotland are a key member, has developed an Acquisitive Crime Strategy 2023-2028. The strategy outlines how we will collectively work in partnership to tackle acquisitive crime throughout Scotland. The vision is to prevent acquisitive crime having an impact on our communities and the aim is to work with partners to reduce the opportunities for acquisitive crime.

The strategy is prevention focused, covering the themes of theft (including theft by shoplifting), itinerant doorstep crime, illicit trade, vehicle crime, robbery, housebreaking and fraud.

Support for SPAACE (specifically in relation to retail crime) is contained within the ‘Scottish Government (SG) Programme for Government 2024 – 2025: Serving Scotland’ under the Ensuring High Quality and Sustainable Public Services priority.

Recognising the importance and impact of rural crime in Scotland, Police Scotland is a key partner within the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC), who have developed a Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025, which has a vision to ensure, regardless of geographic location, rural communities feel safe, with the aim of protecting rural communities through strong partnerships.

Police Scotland are also contributors to Operation Opal, which is a national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime (SOAC) where there is a series of offences impacting on two or more police force areas, including Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Opal team is a functional responsibility of the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) under the wider Crime Operations Coordination Committee.