By Grant Smith

THE LOSS of thousands of experienced police officers in Scotland may lead to rising crime and lower detection rates unless action is taken now, Tayside Chief Constable John Vine who is also president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, said yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of a national 10-year recruitment strategy, he said more than 7300 officers, almost half the 15,000 total, are due to leave the service between now and 2011. Police chiefs and ministers are worried about the impact that could have.

Mr Vine agreed there was a danger in the loss of so much experience and expertise. Officers who knew the criminals they were pursuing and knew how to progress cases were going to leave in the next few years, with most going from 2006 onwards. In their place, he said, needed to come people who might not have previously considered a police career or who might have been prevented from doing so by recruitment rules.

He opened up the possibility of the training age limit being dropped to 18 and said the drive to recruit more people from ethnic minorities might see asylum-seekers being encouraged, after vetting, to take up police work.

Mr Vine told an audience at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan that the impending retirement of thousands of officers recruited in the 1970s had to be tackled. He wanted to get away from the notion that you joined the police at 18-plus, served 30 years and retired. People were far less likely now to seek out a job for life and police forces needed to offer a broader range of career choices.

“We must make the police service attractive to those who seek challenging and rewarding employment that both develops them professionally and supports them as individuals.

“Over the next 10 years we need to fill the gaps left as people retire. It is a pretty daunting task if half the service is going to leave but we have got to look at this as an opportunity, not a threat. We need to reach out to people from other walks of life. We are looking for people who are intellectually very able and physically fit.”

It was rare for older people, especially over 40, to join the police and this was something he wanted to see change. He pointed to a recruit aged 42 at Tulliallan yesterday. A possible source of fresh blood for Scottish forces could come, like Mr Vine himself, from England—13 officers he met at the police college had come from England, including two with more than 10 years each in the Met.

“The attractions of Scotland includes its quality of life and economics—salaries go much further here than in the London area. There is also more emphasis on local accountability and community-based policing in Scotland than in some big inner city areas in England. Officers get a buzz from engaging with the community.”

Although applications can be accepted once people reach 18, they cannot be appointed until they are 18-and-a-half. Mr Vine said, “I don’t think 18-and-a-half should be sacrosanct. It was set many years ago. I don’t see why 18 cannot be the minimum age. However, I don’t think age is the issue—it’s about getting the best calibre of people.”

The ACPOS recruitment strategy aims to encourage more women and ethnic minorities to join the police. Both are under-represented. He said efforts were needed to make policing a more attractive option to women with families. That would mean more use of flexible working and job sharing, things forces had been reluctant to do in the past.

Until recently, only UK or Irish nationals could apply to join the police. That has now been widened to take in people from the whole of the EU.

Mr Vine saw no reason why economic migrants and asylum seekers from the EU or further afield should not have an opportunity to join the police. They would, however, have to be properly vetted. Such a move might help to bring in more people from ethnic minorities. He said, “I would like to see a greater diversity in police staff so we are truly representative of Scottish communities.”

First Minister Jack McConnell, attending the passing-out parade at Tulliallan of 160 new officers, is backing the ACPOS plan. “I want officers to be able to use their energies and talents to tackle and prevent crime, to work with communities to improve safety and to show that public service is something of which we can all be proud,” he said.