Police Scotland’s Chief Constable Jo Farrell’s has reflected on progress over the last year to deliver the 2030 vision of safer communities, less crime, supported victims and a thriving workforce during a period of increased demand for the Service.
The report was discussed at the Scottish Police Authority Policing Performance Committee on Wednesday, 10, June, 2026, alongside an update on delivery of Police Scotland’s three year business plan and the Service’s quarter four policing performance report for April 2025 to March 2026.
The documents outline work by police officers, staff and volunteers over the past year to respond to a rise in crime reports, increased protest activity, organised crime feud in the east and west of the country and a visit from the President of the United States of America.
Despite these pressures, Police Scotland has continued to deliver its core duties while using technology and improved working practices to enable police officers and staff to serve communities and ensure an effective and sustainable response to threat, harm and risk now and in the future.
Key achievements from the 2025-2026 year include completion of the roll out of body worn video cameras to all frontline officers, a significant milestone which will improve the quality of evidence presented in court, work in the first year since the establishment of dedicated Retail Crime Taskforce to detect over 5,000 shoplifting crimes, and continued prioritisation of efforts alongside partners on road safety education and enforcement campaigns which is reflected in performance data with road fatalities at their lowest level in five years.
Chief Constable, Jo Farrell said: “My assessment of policing during 2025-26 illustrates the pressure under which police officers, staff, and volunteers operate, and the skill and professionalism they bring to their roles to deliver for the communities of Scotland every day.
“Policing continues to respond to a high level of contact from our communities, with over 2.6m contacts across 999, 101, and through contact us emails. We always prioritise 999 calls for which we maintained an average answer time of eight seconds over the year.
“During the year, we experienced increased reporting of shoplifting, common assault, bail, and other offences such as failing to appear at court, as well as more reports of sexual crime, which drove an overall rise in group one to five crimes compared to the year before. Against these pressures, our officers, staff, and volunteers, have delivered thousands of additional detections.
“Among these continues to be extremely high detection rates in relation to homicides, hugely significant offences which have devastating impacts on families and communities.
“These efforts to ensure safer communities, less crime and supported victims across Scotland are made in the context of significant challenges across the criminal justice sector, and in relation to providing vulnerable people and those in mental health distress with the care they need.
“Over the year, Police Scotland has worked with partners to make more use of direct measures to ensure the justice system can focus on the most serious cases.
“We are playing our part in a stronger approach to summary case management, which is reducing disruption and further traumatisation for victims, while freeing police officers from court attendance when they do not give evidence. Policing has also made significant progress with body worn video and the digital evidence sharing capability, all of which can help to deliver faster, more efficient justice.
“Our mental health taskforce has worked with health colleagues and the third sector to improve a referral process to direct calls relating to mental health to NHS24, to streamline our access to community care, and to better refer people in distress to appropriate services.
“While policing will always have an important role in relation to vulnerability and mental health, the wider system must find ways to ensure agencies better placed to provide care are more often able to do so where there is no criminality or risk to life.”
“Looking ahead to 2026 and 2027, we will continue to prioritise response to threat, risk and harm through the prevention and detection of crime. We will continue to work to provide our people with better equipment and accommodation, unlock existing capacity, and advocate for the resources policing needs to support the safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities across Scotland.
“Our focus continues to be on delivering safer communities, less crime, supported victims, and a thriving workforce.”
