Collection

Police officer quarterly strength statistics Scotland

Directorate: Justice Directorate
Topic: Law and order

Collection of statistics on the number of full-time equivalent police officers in Scotland.

Introduction

The statistics in this release are based upon quarterly returns made by Police Scotland to the Scottish Government, and is a by-product of live administrative processes, generated directly from the HR systems. The data return provides a snapshot of police strength at the end of the quarter. The published police officer figures are sourced from Police Scotland’s personnel records and as such the quality and reliability is good.

Please note that these statistics cover back to Q1 2007. Figures for the years 1970 to 2006 are available in the historical data spreadsheet.