Forth Valley’s top cop has admitted he would like staffing levels to be better.
Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Alan Gibson, said while he felt there were enough staff locally – he would like to see numbers improve.
He also outlined challenges with staffing as a result of the Covid pandemic and experienced officers taking early retirement.
CS Gibson was asked about manning levels by Councillor Paul Henke at a meeting of Stirling Council’s public safety committee.
He replied: “I won’t give numbers on a public forum but we went through a difficult period in relation to staffing levels.
“Changes to pensions allow that certain officers who have reached a certain threshold at the age of 50 can opt to leave. It was an unexpected change to the pension scheme.
“We have seen a significant number of officers leave in a much shorter period. It has been, to be frank, unhelpful but that’s a personal decision of officers and there is certainly no criticism of the officers.
“However, 25 years service is a really experienced officer.
“Another challenge is Covid-19. During the pandemic we were unable to recruit and train as we would normally.
“We had to reduce the numbers of people we could physically train in our establishment so trained fewer people than we would have wanted.
“We are now recruiting in significant numbers. These are good officers who are inherently enthusiastic but they are still relatively inexperienced so it will take time. The staff levels are sufficient but I would like them to be better to be frank.”
Police Scotland recently released statistics covering April to June this year, showing that the overall number of offences recorded in Forth Valley division was 2687 – compared to 3064 for the same period last year.
Whilst the latest figures revealed a drop in the number of sexual offences taking place over the three-month period, instances of what police term as “acquisitive crime” – crimes which include theft, aimed at acquiring property – are on the rise.
The division saw a rise in acquisitive crime with overall reports rising from 987 to 1161.
