The Highlands' top police officer Chief Superintendent Rob Shepherds reveals the challenges facing the force
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The Highlands' top police officer has revealed the serious challenges facing the UK’s largest territorial division, admitting cops will have to do some things “less well.”
Chief Superintendent Rob Shepherd’s candour was accompanied by his conviction that, despite the challenges, the police remain the best “service of last resort” for those in trouble.
Speaking exclusively to the Courier, he explained why he recently told Highland councillors that funding constraints mean doing some things “less well” while insisting there are many areas where Police Scotland perform “brilliantly.”
He portrayed a force that is adapting as well as it can to straitened financial circumstances.
“Police Scotland have invested heavily in a project both in Fife and in the Highlands, called the Local Policing Service Delivery Review," he said.
"It's a really in-depth look at what we do, how we do it, and what we do it with, and one of the outcomes we hope to see from that is an understanding of what we need to police the Highlands and Islands in the most efficient and effective way.
“It's asking some really fundamental questions – what is it that we do? what is policing? what should we be delivering?”
Ch Supt Shepherd was appointed to the Highland beat in January this year, transferring from the Metropolitan Police where he worked across a range of response, support and counter terrorism roles over 20 years.
Insisting he is finding his new role "very much not too quiet" compared to his previous responsibilities he said: "It is so varied and there is so much going on operationally."
He added: "It's a really challenging time with difficult decisions to be made, but so far I'm more than happy at the discussions that are taking place – that the people making the decisions are listening and that, relatively, we aren't being treated any more harshly than any other area."
Asked how many officers he would like on the job in the Highlands he said: “There is no police commander who would say they wouldn't like more.
“What I can say is that in 2020 we did a strategic workforce review and the Highlands and Islands had 616 officers then. It's now got 585.
"At that time it was proposed – and at a reasonably senior level it was agreed – that we needed 26 more, so 642."
Demand on local police services has risen "significantly" since he said – up 25 per cent since last year – taking its toll on a force also dealing with budget constraints including tight overtime budgets.
“More demand, less resource – something has to give," Ch Supt Shepherd said. "And so there will be areas where we will see our visibility reduce and our results – our detection rates, how well we solve crimes – will see reductions. That's unavoidable.
“The important thing is that where threat and risk and harm are highest, that's where we need to prioritise. And if we do that well then we will still be the service that supports people who really need us.
"We've got 12,000 square miles of the Highlands and Islands to police and we've got 585 police officers in total covering that area, but what we're very good at is looking at where our demand is.
"I can really understand the frustration from some of our communities and our elected officials that police are less visible.
"But very often these areas where they're less visible is because there is very little or no demand for policing (there), so what we're having to do is prioritise police officers in areas where they're answering calls over the 'nice-to-do' visibility and attending every single community meeting.
"Most areas are covered with 24/7 policing and there is no intention to change that. It can be challenging with numbers to meet all of those shifts, but that is something we do – and we use overtime to make sure they have the right number of officers."
Summing up the the role of Highland cops he said: “It comes down to life saving interventions and who is the best experienced in dealing with those things and that is without doubt at the moment, Police Scotland."
