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Published: 21 May 2024

Chief Constable's Report - 23 May 2024

Report Summary

This report provides members of the Scottish Police Authority with an overview of information relating to the Police Service, policing and the state of crime.

To access the full document please open the PDF document above.

To view as accessible content please use the sections below. (Note that tables and some appendixes are not available as accessible content). 

Meeting

The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below

Meeting of the Scottish Police Authority - 23 May 2024

Date : 23 May 2024

Location : The Grand Hall, Merchants House, 7 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1BA


Change to prioritise frontline policing

Long-term vision for policing
Critical to our success in delivering change to prioritise frontline policing will be setting a clear vision for the Service that shows what we want our organisation to be in the future.
We are developing our vision for policing for 2030 and have partnered with specialist policing consultants, Leapwise, who have experience in supporting police services in England and Wales.
Our officers and staff have already shared their views and told us what they see as the big issues we need to tackle through surveys, engagement, and other forums. This, alongside insights and learnings from the communities we serve, will be where we start in this process.
In addition, we will be engaging with officers and staff from various divisions and departments and have opened up a colleague engagement portal to give people the opportunity to share their perspectives on what a future Police Scotland could be.
Policing in a Digital World - Digital Evidence Detection Dogs
Policing in a Digital World aims to transform how Police Scotland responds to the evolving threat of cybercrime such as online fraud and online child sexual abuse and exploitation.
The programme will enable us to continue keeping Scotland’s people, communities, businesses and assets safe in both the physical and digital world.
As part of the programme we have trained a number of Digital Evidence Detection Dogs to assist officers investigating a crime where a digital device, such as a smartphone, tablet and laptop, may have been used and is believed to have been hidden.
It is now extremely common for a digital device to be used in criminal activity, which is then concealed by the perpetrator to hide incriminating evidence.
The training of the dogs takes between six and eight weeks and are complementary to our existing canine resources including those dogs that can currently search for drugs, explosives, cash, firearms, human remains and blood.
The dogs are now being deployed and assisting officers in investigations, including the discovery of a digital device during the search of a motor vehicle as part of a recent domestic abuse inquiry in Fife in which a 45-year-old man was arrested and charged.