Prevention, problem solving and proactivity

Drink and drug driving enforcement
Our festive drink and drug driving campaign took place from 1 December 2023 until 2 January 2024. Officers responded to concerns, carried out targeted patrols and organised road checks. The number of roadside tests carried out by police officers increased by 21 per cent compared to the previous year. There were 3,219 breath tests and 481 drug wipes at the roadside. Detected offences increased by 15% to 831.
Although this festive focus shines a light on drink and drug driving, I want to underline that officers are actively patrolling our roads all year round and support a national calendar of road safety campaigns. We are part of a crucial partnership approach to road safety.
I would like to thank everyone who did the right thing by telling us about potential offenders and encourage people to keep reporting. Intelligence-led enforcement is a vital part of what we do and saves lives.
Police Scotland is committed to supporting the Scottish Government's Road Safety Framework to reduce road deaths and injuries. We will continue to make sure we are doing all we can to improve road safety.

Domestic abuse prevention campaign
Our officers answer a domestic abuse call every eight minutes on average, nearly 65,000 reports a year. It is a priority for us and we are committed to getting our approach right - from that very first call, right through to an outcome, putting victims at the heart of what we do.
Stopping domestic abuse, preventing people becoming victims, ensuring children grow up without being exposed to that harm and threat, has to be our focus.
Last December, we ran the second phase of our Is That Me? Campaign at the end of 16 Days of Activism to Tackle Gender-based Violence, a United Nations initiative we support.
Is That Me? targets young men, aged 18 – 25 years, to highlight behaviours that in new relationships are abusive and might indicate future, escalating abuse. It asks them to reflect on their actions and ask that question Is That Me?
Most importantly, it signposts them to support and help to address those abusive behaviour to stop domestic abuse before it happens.
We also aligned Is That Me? with a social media campaign about our Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse in Scotland which enables people to ask if their partner has an abusive past. The scheme gives them the power to make a decision about the future of that relationship.
In the eight years since the scheme has been active, more than 20,000 disclosures have been requested (the majority by police officers or other professionals on behalf of people they interact with). Nearly 12,000 people have been provided with information. Thousands have potentially been protected, lives saved, and futures lived free from domestic abuse.
This scheme and our prevention campaign is part of our commitment to tackle Violence against Women and Girls. We are continuing to develop this approach to our preventative campaigning, and I expect the next phases of both Is That Me? and our That Guy campaign, to launch later this year.

Tackling cybercrime
Our Policing in a Digital World Programme is transforming how the service responds to cybercrime. We are working with Cyber Scotland, the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre, Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, Scottish Government and the banking and financial sector to tackle and prevent this escalating threat.
I want to congratulate those involved in our highly-effective multi-agency Fraud Triage Hub pilot. During the last year reported incidents of fraud valuing over £10million were investigated and over £3million was stopped from being taken or recovered. In December, the team won the Financial Fraud Team of the Year Award 2023 at the Scottish Cyber Awards.