"People may die" warns police federation chief over officer numbers
The head of the organisation representing rank and file police officers in Scotland has warned people could die due to a lack of officer numbers.
Scottish Police Federation general secretary David Kennedy told 1919 Magazine - which the organisation funds - there could be a repeat of the M9 incident involving Lamara Bell and John Yuill, who died having lain in their crashed car for three days despite police being called.
Mr Yuill was pronounced dead at the scene, and Ms Bell died later at hospital after the incident in July 2015. A fatal accident inquiry into the incident opened last month.
When Police Scotland was formed in 2013, 17,496 officers were employed, while figures show that number dropped to 16,600 as of the end of June this year.
Mr Kennedy warned that 600 more officers could leave the force as a result of budget cuts.
"The reality is we have a lack of officers," he said.
"All we can do is keep highlighting it and saying to the public that any notion that policing will remain the same and will remain as safe as it has been is just not going to happen.
"People need to realise that, and government needs to realise that.
"We might see more M9 cases appearing where people actually die, because that's the harsh reality if there are not enough police officers to get to calls that they are meant to attend.
"People may die."
Mr Kennedy went on to say the SPF had received reports of probationer officers going on the beat with other probationers, where they would usually be accompanied by someone of more experience.
"It's happening all over the country. In the more urban areas, it's probably happening more than often," he said.
"It has a massive impact on cops because they just want to do their job and they will try their utmost to do their job but they're at the point now where they're so overstretched they can't do their job.
"We've tried to tell officers they need to try and do the job that they have to do but what happens when you try to take on too much, that's when mistakes get made.
"It's bleak. If the Scottish Government properly funded the police service then it wouldn't be bleak, but they are choosing not to."
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "Police officers perform an essential role keeping Scotland's communities safe which is why the Scottish Government is investing £1.45 billion in policing in 2023/24, despite difficult financial circumstances caused by UK Government austerity.
"There are over 350 more officers than in 2007 and around 1,480 new recruits have joined Police Scotland in the last 18 months.
"Scotland also continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales."
The spokesperson also expressed the Government's sympathies to the families of Mr Yuill and Ms Bell.