Police chiefs have sparked fears of a ‘lawless’ Scotland after warning the service may have to prioritise emergency calls amid a funding crisis.
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service → spark → crisis
Response times will also rise unless ministers plug a £110million gap in the finances of the single force, set up by the SNP Government in 2013.
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ministers → rise → 2013
Top brass said a failure to meet unavoidable cost pressures would force them to focus on 999 calls, leading to longer waits for non-emergency contact and reduced efforts to prevent crime.
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failure → say → crime
The stark warning comes after the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the civilian oversight body for policing, said more funding was needed to prevent the ‘devastating’ loss of more than 1,200 police officers and staff.
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funding → come → officers
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said: ‘Scotland is in danger of becoming a lawless society under an SNP government that has repeatedly failed to tackle soaring levels of crime.
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that → say → crime
‘Police officers cannot be expected to keep communities safe when ministers leave them overstretched and struggling to do their jobs.
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ministers → expect → jobs
‘John Swinney must stop taking the police for granted and deliver the funding needed to put officers where they belong – on the streets, preventing crime and protecting the public.
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they → stop → public
‘Criminals must never be allowed to think the odds are stacked in their favour because the SNP have stripped the police of resources.’
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SNP → allow → resources
Police chiefs have warned the service may have to prioritise emergency calls amid a funding crisis
Police Scotland issued the warning over funding in a submission to Holyrood’s justice committee ahead of the Scottish Budget in December.
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Scotland → warn → December
It said mental health incidents now consume the equivalent of hundreds of officers’ time each year, while warning that hostile state activity, cyber threats, protests, and serious organised crime continue to place increasing demands on specialist resources.
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activity → say → resources
The Police Scotland report said: ‘Without additional funding, Police Scotland will be required to prioritise statutory and emergency response activity, reducing the service provided to communities and limiting our ability to invest in prevention, early intervention and transformation.’
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Scotland → say → prevention
It said: ‘Demand does not reduce under a lower budget settlement.’
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Demand → say → settlement
The report said even an immediate pay and recruitment freeze would not close the funding gap, despite reducing workforce numbers by around 1,260 during 2027-28, which would save around £43million.
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which → say → 43million
It went on: ‘Operational leaders will prioritise against areas of greatest threat, harm and risk such as violence against women and girls, online child sexual abuse and exploitation, counter state threats, community policing and digital transformation – but without adequate investment, Police Scotland’s capacity and capability in these areas will still be constrained.’
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capacity → go → areas
Police Scotland said it recorded more than 230,000 mental health-related incidents in 2025-26, accounting for almost a fifth of all incidents attended by officers.
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it → say → officers
Around 85 per cent involved no crime, while the equivalent of 481 full-time officers were required to respond.
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equivalent → involve → officers
The force also said it responds to over 200 crimes and offences against women and girls every day, describing it as an ‘emergency’.
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it → say → emergency
Domestic abuse crimes have risen by 10.4 per cent in the past year to 24,018.
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crimes → rise → 24,018
Meanwhile, the threat of state-sponsored criminal activity is at its ‘highest level’.
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threat → sponsor → level
The report cited threats from hostile states including Russia, China and Iran.
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report → cite → Russia
It said: ‘Counter terrorism work is diversifying and against a backdrop of increasingly volatile geopolitics and international conflicts, the threat of state-sponsored criminal activity is at its highest level.
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threat → say → level
‘The threat from foreign states and their proxies is putting lives at risk and undermining our democratic values.
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threat → put → values
‘As a result, Police Scotland must strengthen our capacity and capability to deal with state threats.’
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Scotland → strengthen → threats
Police Scotland said civil unrest ‘manifesting in protest and, at times, disorder and violence has increased’.
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unrest → say → times
Last year, officers were deployed to 2,190 protests – up 19 per cent on the previous year.
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officers → deploy → year
Scottish Government recorded crime statistics show community and public order offences increased by 3 per cent compared to the previous year (from 10,151 to 10,490 offences) and increased by 14 per cent from the year ending June 2022 (from 9,189 to 10,490 offences).
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offences → record → offences
Police Scotland said: ‘We do not anticipate an end to this demand.’
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We → say → demand
Meanwhile, according to workforce surveys, only 29 per cent of respondents agreed there were enough people in their team or department to allow them to do their job effectively.
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them → accord → job
It comes after a separate bombshell SPA report revealed that Police Scotland is facing ‘devastating’ cuts without additional funding.
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Scotland → come → funding
The SPA issued the unprecedented warning on the cash crisis engulfing the force while also admitting trust in the police service is now falling.
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trust → issue → service
It said officer numbers could plummet to the lowest level for more than 20 years unless the force is given sufficient funds in Finance Secretary Jenny Gilruth’s Budget in December.
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force → say → December
It is the first time the SPA has delivered such a blunt message to ministers, including the admission that policing is ‘under severe strain’ while ‘trust and confidence’ in the service is ‘decreasing’.
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trust → deliver → service
Justice Secretary Neil Gray said: ‘Our police perform a vital role keeping Scotland’s communities safe, which is why we have invested record funding of more than £1.7billion for policing in 2026-27.
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we → say → 2026
‘We will continue to work with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority to understand their 2027-28 budget requirements which will feed into the Scottish Government budget process.’
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which → continue → process
The Aporia
